For the first time in two years, Kootenai County commissioners will increase their budget by the 3 percent per year allowed by the state.

But Commissioner Ron Rankin said the increase is the result of an “unfunded mandate” and won’t raise the county’s tax rate.

The result for property owners will depend on how much their home values rose this year.

Commissioners are in the middle of negotiating next year’s budget with county department heads, a process that continues until mid-September.

This year, the budget will jump from about $34 million to about $37 million.

About $16 million of that comes from property taxes.

In recent years, commissioners have fought to keep the budget increases to below the amount of taxes generated by new growth.

The result has been slight property tax reductions for the average county homeowner.

Not this year.

The Idaho Legislature decided this year to provide the region with a new district court judge.

While the salary will be paid for out of state money, the county must provide and pay for the judge’s chambers and courtroom.

That’s expected to cost just under $1 million, said County Administrator Tom Taggart.

To raise the money, commissioners will increase next year’s budget by 3 percent over and above the money generated by new growth.

That additional $460,000 will cover about half the courtroom costs.

The rest will be made up within the budget, Taggart said, including money raised through rising property values.

The result for property owners will be slight increases in property taxes, if their home values rose dramatically this year.

For those whose home values stayed the same, property taxes will drop slightly.

“This would not increase last year’s budget by even a penny (over money generated by new growth) if it weren’t for the addition of the justice building,” Rankin said.

, DataTimes