KALISPELL — The Kalispell City Council is not moving forward with billing President Donald Trump for his October visit, which left the city with a $46,000 security overtime bill. The decision is not final, and the public can still weigh in.
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President Trump visited Kalispell on Oct. 14. In a Nov. 2 council meeting, the council split on whether to bill the president. Mayor Ryan Hunter and councilors Wes Walker and Sid Daoud spoke in support of sending a bill.
Daoud said it comes down to who pays the taxes.
"The money doesn't belong to me. It doesn't belong to the city. It belongs to the taxpayers, so if there's any possible way that we can recoup that money, I'm all for it," Daoud said.
Daoud argues the event was a private political rally and did not benefit Kalispell as a whole.
"This was not an event for Kalispell. It wasn't an event for the state or it wasn't an event for anything around here. It was a political elected official coming in and stumping for another candidate," Daoud said.
On the other side of the debate, councilors Jed Fisher, Kyle Waterman and Sam Nunnally spoke against billing the president. Nunnally said it is simply part of the job.
"My belief is that it's law enforcement, fire and EMS's job to provide the services that they provide," Nunnally said.
Nunnally said previous political events in Kalispell, including visits from high-ranking officials and protests, have not been billed in the past.
"I personally worked the Joe Biden event when he came into town for a political event. We didn't agree, but it's about the job," Nunnally said.
The city ultimately did not move forward with billing Trump. But Daoud said that since there was no official vote, the public can still weigh in and ask the council to revisit the decision.
"It's not too late for us to actually invoice the White House. I think that if you feel strongly one way or the other, you should contact your city councilmen or the mayor or the city and say please do or do not," Daoud said.
