Nic Trims Take From Property Tax Budget Aims To Send Message That School Trustees ‘Really Trying’
Kootenai County taxpayers got a little gift from North Idaho College Wednesday when college trustees decided to collect less money than originally planned from property owners for its 1995-96 budget.
The total amount of taxes to be collected will be reduced by $74,121.
“I think for 74 grand it’s worth it to show that we’re really trying,” said NIC trustee Bob Ely before voting on the new budget.
The reduction was made possible in part by a larger-than-expected carry-over from the previous year. The college had $329,068 more left from last year than originally thought.
A month ago, college officials were planning on collecting $5,702,628 in local tax revenues for the $18.73 million college budget.
With the large carry-over and reductions in the library budget and estimated athletic gate receipts, the new proposed budget was $18.8 million, with $5,460,681 coming from the taxpayers.
Ely suggested reducing the taxpayers’ contribution even further to make the budget equal to the original budget proposal, and giving the taxpayers a slight break.
“We’re still raising our budget by over 7 percent, so I think it’s prudent,” Ely said.
The board unanimously supported the move. As a result of all the adjustments, the tax rate for NIC has dropped from $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed property value to less than $1.35 per $1,000 assessed value.
Though NIC President Bob Bennett argued for keeping the $74,121, after the vote he told the board it was an appropriate move.
“You people have worked very hard in terms of learning this budget,” he said. “As hard as any board I’ve seen.”
The board did not discuss the budget for the athletic department, though its size was a hot topic at the last board meeting. The only adjustment in that department’s budget was a more conservative figure for gate receipts - $12,000.
A special committee will begin meeting the second week of September to discuss what role athletics should have at the college.
, DataTimes