Missoula Mayor Talks About 2007 Legislative Priorities

By Brianna Randall, 1-28-07

Last week, I narrowly squeezed into Mayor John Engen’s extremely busy schedule to discuss Missoula’s legislative priorities.  He shepherded me into his corner office and said, “I can give you at least eight minutes between rousing committee meetings and yoga class.”

Here’s a look at my conversation with Mayor Engen on the City’s role in Helena politics:

BR: What would you say is your personal, number-one-priority issue during this legislative session, Mayor?

JE:  Passing a bill allowing for a local option tax.  I want Missoula to at least be able to ask the question—this would allow us to discuss and debate alternative funding sources for our City’s needs.  Several bills are up this session that would provide for voter-approved local taxes, and the Missoula delegation of Representatives and Senators is behind the concept.

I know sales taxes are not traditionally attractive.  But ours is an imperfect tax structure.  So, we need to be able to take advantage of what we have, and the folks that come to visit this beautiful place.  The more we can temper the myths about small sales tax, the better off we are.

Look at the numbers from Whitefish: the residents passed a resort tax by a 56% voter margin in 1995.  The reauthorization ballot measure for this resort tax passed by a 76% margin in 2004.  Obviously, Whitefish residents are supportive of this tax, and were pleased with the economic results in the first few years.

If a local option tax bill passes, I’ll do all the research on potential program structures for an option tax, and will encourage the community to debate this issue.  I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there right now.  We need to be able to talk about how to lessen the overall tax burden, about how to relieve property taxes and still build what needs to be built in Missoula.

BR:  How often will you be traveling to Helena?  Will you lobby personally?

JE:  I was there a couple of weeks ago to meet with the League of Cities and Towns, a group that will reflect Missoula’s interests, and the interests of many other Montana communities.  Alec Hansen, the director of the league, is really an expert on lobbying, and does an excellent job prioritizing our needs.

The City Council and I also met with our local legislators to discuss our agenda for the session.  We want to be a resource, to inform lawmakers on how bills can better accommodate the City’s goals.

We’ll go to Helena to represent the City on a few occasions.  For instance, if there’s a bill on law enforcement funds, I might testify with one of the Missoula police officers.  The City also hired two lobbyists for the 90-day session, Mike Kadas (our former Mayor) and Janet Donahue.  Linda Stahl is the County’s lobbyist.
BR: Are there bills of interest to Missoula in the legislature every day?

JE:  Oh, yes.  Almost everything is of interest to one department or another.  Take for instance these two pieces of legislation: one proposed bill would implement changes for how unmarked police vehicles can operate, affecting our police department here in the City.  Another bill—we like to call it the “Paper Towel Bill”—would mandate that we put paper towels in every single restroom facility, which would cost the City quite a lot of money.

BR: What are some top-priority issues for the City?

JE: Transportation improvements are critical to the City’s long-term economic viability, as well as the health and safety of our citizens.  The needs of a city are quite different than the needs of small towns. Instead of a $30 million project that will repave a 50-mile stretch of highway connecting us to the next town, we need a $30 million project to reconstruct a few miles of Russell Street.

We’re also, of course, interested in not losing ground in regards to revenue.  The League works on budget entitlement money for the cities, carefully crafting legislation.  We understand that the state has many fiscal priorities, and that we’re just one piece of the puzzle.  For instance, I support the Governor’s effort to return some of the surplus to taxpayers.  His plan seems progressive, and has a good sense of equity.

Another area of interest to the City is land-use planning.  We talk to the County frequently, and believe zoning and subdivision regulations are critical to Missoula’s future. 

We’re also looking at power and energy bills.  Missoula is supporting Great Falls in its efforts to generate and distribute its own power.  Let’s let Montanans own our own power.  Let’s let public power make sense. 

In a broad sense, we hope the State gives us autonomy.  We appreciate bills that allow communities to make good decisions, especially urban areas.  Cities like Missoula are the economic drivers in the state today—let us capitalize on that.