Kootenai County elections
Commissioner
Three county commissioners oversee and allocate the county’s $63.5 million budget, set policy and oversee many of the county departments and employees.
Term: Two years.
Annual salary: $67,000.
The race
Independent Kootenai County commission candidate Tom Macy wants to put a temporary stop on growth until the commission can “unscramble the mess” and get back into compliance with land-use laws.
Macy, who also ran in 2002 as a Libertarian, knows moratorium is dirty word and frightening to many – especially to the developers, builders and real estate brokers profiting from the boom. Yet, he said, it’s the only way the county can regain control and stop the “free-for-all.”
“It’s absolutely decimating our rural areas,” said Macy, of Post Falls.
He said the county is plagued with problems because its elected officials have refused to follow the law.
His Republican opponent, Todd Tondee, a Post Falls City Council member who owns a pizza shop and a used car lot, agrees that the county hasn’t handled its ever-increasing population well. But Tondee is adamant that a moratorium, no matter how temporary, isn’t the answer.
“Our economy is tied too much to the building industry,” Tondee said. “A moratorium would hurt the whole economy. It means no building in the county.”
Instead, he said, the commission should start charging developers impact fees and not allow variances or exceptions to land-use rules.
Tondee ousted Commissioner Gus Johnson in the May Republican primary. Commissioner Katie Brodie also lost that election, to Republican Rich Piazza, who has no challenger Nov. 7.
Macy also wants the county to charge impact fees for development, and he thinks developers should pay for the study needed to establish the system. He said developers are exploiting the area.
Tondee’s priorities if elected would be to oversee the rewriting of the comprehensive plan and ensure that it meshes with rules for classifying and dividing land. He wants to have regular town halls meetings where residents can voice concerns, and he wants to raise employees’ morale, giving them more say in how the county operates.
Besides confronting growth, Macy said his priority would be to find a solution for jail overcrowding. The commission handed off that problem to the new board when it opted not to put a $55 million sales tax proposal to expand the jail on the November ballot. Voters rejected a similar $50 million proposal last fall.
Macy opposes the $55 million expansion and said the county needs to explore other options, such as treatment programs in lieu of jail. If the county does need to ask taxpayers for money to expand the jail, he thinks the commission first must regain the public’s trust.
Tondee said the jail is a priority and the commission must either expand it or reduce the number of inmates. He said the new commission will have to research its options and agreed that regaining public trust will be crucial.
Independent Tom Macy, 69, Post Falls: “Private property rights need to be preserved for everyone, that doesn’t just mean developers. The only ones who get consideration now are developers.
Republican Todd Tondee, 41, Post Falls: “Trust is not something you get back from day one. It’s something you start taking small steps with.”
Assessor
The county assessor oversees all property assessments, which are used to calculate tax bills; manages tax exemptions; tracks property ownership, maps properties and maintains a database of property records; and oversees the county’s vehicle licensing and title services with offices in Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.
Term: Four years.
Annual salary: $65,000.
The race
Coeur d’Alene Libertarian John Gessner is running for Kootenai County assessor, but not because he has any qualms with the incumbent or any big ideas for change.
He just doesn’t like any candidate to run unopposed. He is challenging Republican Assessor Mike McDowell, of Coeur d’Alene, who was elected in 2002 after serving as chief deputy for nearly two decades.
“I’m a big believer there should be two candidates,” Gessner said. “I think Mike’s a great guy.”
Yet he does think he can better manage the office and its 62 employees.
Gessner wants to reduce the department’s $3.3 million budget. And his biggest goal would be to create an online clearinghouse for information on the individual taxing districts in Kootenai County, from local school districts to highway districts. Because all those districts spend property tax dollars, he said there should be one place where taxpayers can see a report on how budgeting decisions are made.
A self-proclaimed “techno geek,” Gessner said that he has the skills to create such a Web site and that he and the staff could keep it updated.
McDowell said his priorities would be to continue improvements in customer service and offer a well-trained staff. The office recently converted to a new computer system, and McDowell wants to oversee the rest of the transition, which will include the ability to offer more information to the public online.
Even though the assessor’s office and county don’t oversee Idaho’s property tax system, McDowell has lobbied for changes that would give homeowners property tax relief. He applauds state legislators for making changes during the August special session that brought relief to homeowners and businesses. But he said more work is needed, especially to help long-term residents who bought their homes before skyrocketing real estate prices.
McDowell supports a proposal to freeze property tax increases for people who have owned their homes for longer than 15 years. Gessner agreed more property tax relief is needed. He would support a proposal to give exemptions to long-term homeowners.
Libertarian John Gessner, 56, Coeur d’Alene: “I have good problem-solving skills, and politics is a place where that is needed.”
Republican Mike McDowell, 51, Coeur d’Alene: “Our focus is on customer service. We treat everyone in a professional manner.”
Treasurer
The county treasurer accounts for and invests county funds, collects taxes and administers certain estates.
Term: Four years.
Annual salary: $65,000.
The race
The two candidates vying for the job of collecting taxes in Kootenai County say the most important part of the job is customer service, particularly given the anti-tax climate that seems to permeate the area.
Incumbent county Treasurer Tom Malzahn, a Republican, and challenger Dan Duffey, a Democrat, both want to improve the way taxpayers are treated in the office by making the process more efficient. The difference is Malzahn says he’s already made great changes to the office, while Duffey says he would do better.
Duffey has worked as senior accountant in the county auditor’s office for nearly nine years. He and Malzahn work in the same building, separated by a few cubicle walls. Duffey said he knows more can be done in the treasurer’s office to make things easier for taxpayers. He wants to set up a program that would allow citizens to pay their taxes online, avoiding a long wait at the treasurer’s office.
Malzahn said he wants to do that, too. In fact, he’s already started implementing an online program and expects it to be running in time for December’s tax payments. “We’re taking some big steps here,” he said.
Duffey’s ideas include holding community meetings, introductory finance classes and tours of the treasurer’s office to let taxpayers know who’s handling their money and what exactly they do.
Malzahn shares those ideas, too, and said he’s worked to implement many of them. He points to his work over the years as evidence that he’s moving the treasurer’s office in the right direction. He’s shrunk the department and implemented a program that lets U.S. Bank employees scan in payment checks themselves and give a report to the treasurer’s office. That means the money is deposited into the bank the day the check arrives, earning the county more money in interest than it would if it waited for county employees to process the payments.
“The money’s working for us that day,” he said. “Before, it was weeks.”
Democrat Dan Duffey, 51, Rathdrum: “We’re growing so rapidly in this county, and we need to think outside the box.”
Republican Tom Malzahn, 60, Post Falls: “This job really is a customer-service job.”