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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lean Again Frugal Governor Offers Little Tax Relief

Betsy Z. Russell And Matt Pember S Staff writer

Kootenai County residents would share $1 million in property tax relief with two other counties under Gov. Phil Batt’s proposed budget for the coming year.

But the largess stops there.

In the spending plan he unveiled Wednesday, Batt found no money for larger-scale property tax relief, or for much else. The budget is so tight that even the frugal governor admitted, “I guess if we had a little more money, I wouldn’t mind spending it.”

But, he said, we don’t.

“This budget meets our needs,” Batt told lawmakers who crowded into the House chambers. “Lesser priorities are not recommended.”

North Idaho lawmakers - whose campaign promises included a tough stand on taxes - seized on Batt’s proposed property tax cut. That cut would offset a portion of taxes now paid to community colleges.

“It’s a first step in the right direction,” said Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden.

Idaho has just two community colleges. Kootenai County residents pay about $6 million in property taxes to help support North Idaho College, while residents in Twin Falls and Jerome counties pay $4 million for the College of Southern Idaho.

All of Idaho’s other colleges and universities, including a two-year technical college, are state-funded and charge no local property taxes.

“This has been a matter of great discussion for a long time,” Batt said after delivering his budget speech. It may be impossible “to dedicate a lot of money to this, but it’s a first step,” he added.

Property taxes now make up about a third of the community colleges’ funding.

Under the governor’s proposal, the property tax cut would be split evenly between NIC and CSI taxpayers.

Sen. Gordon Crow, R-Hayden, said he wants to work for a bigger share of the tax cut for Kootenai County, since its residents are paying more now.

“Five hundred thousand is nothing to sneeze at,” Crow said. “But I’m prepared to kind of circle the wagons, see if they want to do the right thing - give a little bit more than an even split to Kootenai County.”

Sen. Clyde Boatright, R-Rathdrum, said of the governor’s proposal, “That’s not enough.”

Boatright said he’ll try to get the amount doubled to $2 million, then push for Kootenai County to get the larger share.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said the governor’s bare-bones budget seems to necessitate a shift or cut in services.

“We need to be sure we’re comfortable with that.” But she said, “It’s very clear in my district that people need and want property tax relief. There are some folks that feel they’re being taxed off their farms and off their homes, particularly senior citizens.”

Bonner, Boundary and Benewah counties overwhelmingly approved the property tax-limiting One Percent Initiative this year, while Kootenai County narrowly passed it. Only one other county in the state favored the measure.

The governor noted that the 3 percent limit he imposed on most property tax increases two years ago has helped hold down tax hikes. Plus, that same year, he and the Legislature shifted $40 million of public school funding from the property tax to the state general fund. That shift continues and is up to $50 million for the coming year.

Rep. Don Pischner, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he’s still concerned about property taxes. “I know a fella on a golf course whose property taxes have increased four-fold in only three years,” he said.

Looking for ways to limit increases in property tax assessments was one of the possibilities Batt said he’d be open to, as well as increasing the homeowner’s exemption. But he made no recommendation and sent a clear message that any proposal would have to pay for itself.

“We have never indicated that there’s any general fund money to be allocated for property tax relief,” Batt said.

Rep. Jim Stoicheff, D-Sandpoint, said, “I can’t argue with what he did. You can’t spend more than what you have.”

Other highlights of the governor’s proposed budget include:

Only tiny increases in funding are recommended for the state’s schools, colleges and universities and health and social services.

The biggest increases are for prisons and juvenile corrections. Public safety spending has risen more than 72 percent in six years - faster than education and health and welfare, Batt said.

The 2.5 percent midyear budget cut Batt ordered this year would become permanent for all state functions except public schools. Had the school money not been restored, it would have become an automatic property tax increase.

Batt recommended raises of 2 percent for state employees.

He also called for $13 million for maintenance and repair for state buildings.”Over the years we have sweated blood in order to finance these marvelous facilities,” he said.

“If we don’t maintain them, we are eating our seed corn.”

Batt recommended $46,000 to consolidate state police dispatching for North Idaho at the Coeur d’Alene center. That’s an efficiency move that involves moving four dispatchers, a supervisor and equipment from Lew- iston to Coeur d’Alene.

He proposed adding 13 probation positions to the Department of Corrections to handle an increasing caseload, and four hearing officers to the Department of Law Enforcement.

A decision on whether to add a district judge in Coeur d’Alene was left up to lawmakers, who will balance $1.2 million in requests from the judiciary and state elected officials against $771,000 that Batt left unallocated.

Batt proposed no change in school construction funding, despite a looming lawsuit.

Idaho leaves construction costs entirely to local property taxpayers. State schools Superintendent Anne Fox said she’ll press ahead with her proposal to raise sales taxes by half a percent to fund a portion of new school buildings.

“We really feel something has to be done,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo Graphic: Gov. Batt’s proposed budget