The Kootenai County commissioners on Wednesday tentatively agreed to fund a 3 percent wage increase for county employees. The board on Wednesday also tentatively agreed to increase property taxes in the county by 1 percent. It could have taken up to 3 percent. The total amount budgeted for the wage increase is $1.04 million. "Previous boards have kicked the can down the road to the point where now we have to make the tough decisions to take corrective action," Commission Chairman David Stewart said. He pushed for a greater increase. "Good people are very hard to find," Stewart said. "We need to maintain and keep the people that we've got here - if not attract other highly skilled people"/David Cole, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Do you have any problem with the wage increase for county employees?