Irrigation fee increase possibly delayed for another year
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ST. IGNATIUS – A proposed rate hike for Flathead Indian Irrigation Project irrigators might be off the table until next year’s tax bills go out.
Flathead Joint Board of Control Irrigation Commissioner Shane Orien said Aug. 25 the board’s office was informed that because a proposed rate hike was proposed, but not finalized, until after the deadline for irrigation commissioners had to set assessments per state law, the rate increase would likely not take effect until 2016.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs had proposed fees for operations and maintenance increase from $26 per acre to $33 per acre. Public comment into the matter ended Aug. 10.
Flathead Indian Irrigation Project Manager Pete Plant told irrigators in May that the increase was needed to help pay for decades of deferred maintenance on the project and staff costs. But irrigation commissioners for the Flathead Joint Board of Control voted against raising the rates on irrigators’ tax bills in July, saying they did not have enough information about where the BIA intended to spend the nearly $1 million in additional revenue.
