Kootenai County Budget Praised Erstwhile Critics Compliment Commissioners For Frugality
Although he worried aloud that lightning would strike him for saying the words, government critic Ron Rankin praised Kootenai County commissioners Thursday evening for a 1995-96 budget that will slice nearly $58,000 from property tax bills.
It is the most sincere effort to respond to the public outcry over high taxes in 20 years, Rankin said of the $33.9 million spending plan, which cuts total spending $306,000.
Gordon Tate, who has not missed a budget hearing since 1954, said it’s the first time at least one county department hasn’t had a large budget increase.
And Pat Raffee, executive director of Concerned Businesses of North Idaho, threw out “bravo” several times, adding “we appreciate your frugality, creativity, compromise, and responsiveness to taxpayer wishes.”
The commissioners could have decided to take $1.1 million more in property tax revenue, including money from new construction plus the 3 percent increase allowed by state law. Instead, department heads were asked to develop lean plans and did so, county clerk Tom Taggart said.
Cuts came in a variety of ways, from $40,000 at the airport to $400 from the equipment budget for the 911 emergency telephone system. While 14 new people were added to the payroll, 11 positions were eliminated. And seven of the new positions, mandated by changes in the state juvenile justice system, will be paid for by the state.
“The commissioners felt this was the year, with the public outcry over taxes and valuation,” Taggart said before the meeting. “It was real clear from all quarters people felt they were taxed enough.”
People weren’t totally positive about the budget. Nearly every one of the seven who spoke about the budget questioned the need for the county to hire a lobbyist or the need for so much taxpayer support for the airport.
The county is merely spending $3,300 to study the idea of joining the cities of Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls in hiring a lobbyist to the Legislature, Commission Chairman Dick Compton said.
The study focuses on using a lobbyist to change laws prohibiting the collection of impact fees, to get fairer distribution of liquor and sales taxes and to allow communities to set other special “local option” taxes.
Garbage fees, building inspectors, planning and zoning, and vehicles for sheriff’s deputies all were questioned. No sheriff’s deputies testified, although many picketed at the courthouse earlier in the week over a pay-raise dispute.
The commissioners will adopt the budget formally next week. Their decision to hold the line follows a trend established by several other government agencies in the county, including Kootenai Medical Center, which this year dropped its property tax levy entirely.
, DataTimes