County Budget Up $3.6 Million Kootenai County Commissioners Adopt $37.4 Million Plan For 1998

It will take $37.4 million and 11 new employees to keep Kootenai County government operating next year.

That’s what commissioners decided Tuesday when they adopted a 1998 budget that’s $3.6 million higher than this year’s.

Commissioners attribute most of the increase to building projects, some of which are needed to meet new state requirements.

Most taxpayers won’t feel a pinch from the increase, but for those who do, it may smart.

New development and increased property values countywide means the county’s tax rate will actually fall by nearly 1 percent. In other words, the owner of a $100,000 piece of property, after exemptions, will pay about $3 less in taxes - provided his home value did not change this year.

Most homeowners fall into that category so their tax bill - at least the 20 percent of it that goes to pay for county government - will fall slightly.

But others saw their property values skyrocket this year - in some cases by nearly 50 percent. Those residents will see their tax bills rise, county officials said.

Next year’s budget includes $944,000 money to build two courtrooms, one of which will house a district judge, paid for by the state. The other will be added at the same time to save money when courtroom space gets tight in coming years.

“If we didn’t get a new judge, we still needed additional courtrooms,” said County Administrator Tom Taggart.

The budget also includes $600,000 as the first payment for the county’s new courthouse, which is nearing completion, Taggart said.

The county also will hire a new detective - the first additional detective in a decade - two court clerks, a computer programmer and two investigators for the public defender’s office.

Public defenders spent $100,000 on private investigations last year, Taggart said. He expects the two staff investigators to save $30,000.

The county also will set aside $640,000 for pay raises for the county’s 545 employees. That’s an average of about 4 percent per employee, but the money won’t be allocated across the board.

“It’s not automatic that every employee will get 4 percent,” Taggart said. “The departments will be given their share of that 4 percent. Poor performers and high performers will get different size raises depending on how they’re doing.”

Commissioner Ron Rankin added that just because the money was budgeted for raises, that doesn’t mean it will all be spent.

“I am determined not to use that amount,” he said.

Asked if he would have bought that argument from a county commissioner back when he was an unelected critic of government spending, Rankin reiterated his intent not to spend all the money.

“I’m still in search of the Holy Grail, still protecting it,” Rankin said.

Commissioners are expected in coming weeks to consider raises for some elected officials. That decision by law must be made independent of the budgeting process.

, DataTimes