There are lots of military and law enforcement representatives at JFAC this morning for a special hearing on a proposal to prepay lease costs for the mountaintop transmitters and other public safety communications equipment that’s now on state endowment lands. The joint proposal from the state Lands Department and the Military Division is to issue a 20-year lease for the six sites, prepaid at a discounted rate of $1.3 million.

The problem is that the Land Board is required by the Idaho Constitution to obtain market-rate returns for use of endowment land, even if the user is a governmental entity. Because of that, current fees are scheduled to rise from $5,473 a year to $81,632 a year in the first year of the 20-year lease. And the public safety agencies couldn’t afford the big fee increase – posing risks to emergency communications if they had to find new sites. The long-term lease allows the Lands Department to include a 6 percent discount.

State Lands Director Tom Schultz described the proposal as “a one-time deal to put this issue to bed for 20 years.” He said, “The location works for everyone. It’s really an issue of fees … and trying to figure out a long-term solution to paying for those fees.” Agencies using the sites include the Idaho State Police, the Idaho Transportation Department, Idaho Fish & Game, the Department of Lands, the Idaho Department of Corrections, the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, and Idaho Emergency Medical Services. Federal agencies, including the Forest Service, BLM, FBI and NOAA, also have equipment on the sites, but they have a trade-out – the state uses more of their sites, and neither charges the other. “If we charge them a little bit, it comes back on us many times more,” Schultz told JFAC.

The proposal is for a one-time transfer from general funds to the endowment to pre-pay the lease; it was jointly presented to JFAC by Schultz and Military Division Director Major General Gary Sayler, the adjutant general of the Idaho National Guard. Lawmakers have plenty of questions about the proposal, including whether the lease could be 10 years instead of 20. Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, told Sayler and Schultz, "Obviously we're not going to solve it here today, but we'll look forward to conversations with you to figure out the best alternative for the state."