Cda Plans $3 Million Spending Increase Property Taxes Keep Dropping As City Finds Alternate Money Sources

City property tax rates are dropping slightly for the eighth straight year, even as the city increases spending by nearly $3 million.

The typical owner of a $100,000 home in Coeur d’Alene, will pay $289 in city property taxes under the preliminary 1998-99 budget presented to the City Council by staff last week. This continues a trend, started in 1991, when the same homeowner paid $299 in city taxes.

Most of the increase in city spending will go toward a new water well, four street construction projects and a new police station.

One reason property tax bills are lower is the way the city plans to pay for the work. The $700,000 water well will be paid for with revenue from water hook-up fees and residential water billing.

The city hasn’t determined a location for the new well or whether it can close the Hanley well. The Hanley well has had fluctuating levels of trichloroethylene, a suspected carcinogen, for eight years.

The well has exceeded the federal standard of 5 parts per billion during individual tests. But it has not yet exceeded that standard for an entire year, which would put it in violation of the Clean Water Act.

This year, TCE concentrations have fallen to 2 parts per billion, some of the lowest since the contaminant was found in the well. TCE used to be a common ingredient in dry cleaning fluid and industrial degreasers.

One of the largest building expenditures will be the $850,000 payment toward the new police station. Work is expected to begin on that station this fall.

Government Way tops the list of street projects. The city proposes spending $650,000 for engineering and right of way purchases for making Government Way into a four-lane road from Interstate 90 to Dalton Avenue.

The Idaho Department of Transportation is taking care of much of the other construction costs.

Another $610,000 is earmarked to add a turn lane to Fourth Street, between Lunceford Lane and Dalton Avenue, as well as connecting Neider Avenue to Lunceford Lane at Fourth Street.

Another $250,000 in street construction money would be used to realign a section of Seltice Way near Northwest Boulevard, as well as work on Ramsey Road from Hanley Avenue to the city limits.

For the first time in city history, the mayor is presenting a separate budget. Mayor Steve Judy’s spending plan is about $52,000 lower.

Judy doesn’t vote on spending matters, however, unless there is a tie among council members.

The largest difference between Judy’s plan and the budget proposed by city staff is at the water department. City staff suggest spending $150,000 for an emergency generator where Judy suggests spending $50,000.

He spends $11,000 less for the city clerk’s operation, for the mayor and council, parks and the library.

The mayor also puts $35,000 more toward services and supplies at the wastewater department, as well as slightly increasing spending for the fire department.

WHAT’S NEXT The City Council meets Monday at 5 p.m. at City Hall to set the maximum amount it can spend next year. It will hold a budget workshop Aug. 25 at 5:15 p.m. and a public hearing on the budget Sept. 1 at 6 p.m.