Missoula residents balk at pricey assessments for sidewalks

Over the last three months, Kathleen Kimble and her husband Bill Fleischman, along with many of their Rose Park neighbors in Missoula, have received some distressing letters.  In early November, the city of Missoula notified the retired couple they would owe $9,000 as part of an upcoming project to add or replace aging sidewalks along Franklin and Ivy streets. Under city code, residents are assessed for a portion of the sidewalk work adjacent to their property.  On top of last year’s significant property tax increase, the options to stretch sidewalk payments out over several years or de