Letters To The Editor

Don’t raise taxes, put prisoners to work

“Chop wood! Carry water!” “There is no such thing as a free lunch!” “If you don’t want the time, don’t do the crime!” These commonsense principles are accepted and heeded by law-abiding citizens.

I resent being taxed to provide free lunches (and dinners, beds, TV’s, Internet access, law libraries, etc.) for lawbreakers who refuse to chop wood and carry water and who complain about conditions in the facilities in which they are serving time.

Why build a multimillion-dollar facility to house capable men? Why not purchase an isolated farm and create cottage industries on that property so prisoners can earn their keep? Fallen timber can be converted to cords of wood and sold. Crops can be grown, harvested and either consumed by inmates or sold for profit. I’m sure small, start-up businesses could be persuaded to hire and train inmates to craft their products. The businesses would have a higher chance of success if initial expenses are minimal.

How would one motivate the residents of the new “training facility?” By enforcing a principle learned and practiced by those who are footing the bill for their confinement: “If one does not work, neither let him eat.”

I would have my taxes directed to provide food, shelter or jobs for senior citizens who are feeble, mothers and children driven from their homes by abuse and ablebodied men who need no more than training.

Hello out there? Kootenai County commissioners, are you listening? Marjorie K. Watts Coeur d’Alene

Jail just an excuse to raise sales tax

Kootenai County commissioners want to put a new tax on baby’s milk to cut property tax for the wealthy. The jail is an excuse to raise the sales tax to cut property taxes. As the proposed property tax cut is a percentage, those that will see the largest tax cuts are large corporations, real-estate developers and large-property owners. A large proportion of these live or have their headquarters outside of this county and state.

Idaho, unlike our neighboring states, has a sales tax on groceries, which means that every resident of this state, no matter what their income level is, who wishes to eat will pay for this cut in property taxes. This is not new money, it is a shift from who is paying it from the rich to the working class.

The county found money for the new office buildings, in which the commissioners now are seated. The state found $500,000 for Post Falls to help put in an Albertson’s store. This shows me that they can find the money if they really want to, or if they have to raise taxes, raise the property taxes and raise the homeowner’s exemption.

There is no way that a young couple with children trying to make ends meet should have to pay for corporate property tax cuts. Robert Gibson Post Falls

Get funds by raising tax on tobacco, alcohol

Re: A new Kootenai County jail. I vote for sales tax increases. Why punish the property owners? Raise taxes on “government drugs” such as tobacco and alcohol.

I also recommend a place (maybe New York) where anybody could go and live and do any kind of drug they wanted, only they could never leave. Once they entered they were there for the duration. No laws, no prohibitions of any kind. Big fences, though. Bob Sylvester Rathdrum

Raise sales tax for jail, not property tax

As much as I have an aversion to agreeing with Ron Rankin on almost anything, in this case I think he is correct. We obviously do need an expanded jail and I think raising the sales tax a small amount is a better solution than raising property tax. If we are going to, at some point, have to raise property taxes, then I’d much rather see it raised to build a community center than a jail. If we spent more money on social programs and activities, particularly for young people, that a community center would bring, then we might in the long run have less need for jail space.

There will be no significant impact on business from a small sales tax increase, as much as some of the businesses may whine about it.

Maybe if there is any extra money from the sales tax increase we could give it to the Juvenile Probation Department for establishing innovative programs for high-risk youth to try to prevent them going down the dead end path of a criminal lifestyle.

Mr. Rankin apparently did his homework on this proposal and I agree with his sales tax increase to fund expansion of the county jail. Tom Hearn Coeur d’Alene

Jail expansion needed, but not with tax dollars

I’ve been proud to serve as a member of the county Criminal Justice Advisory Committee and have studied the jail issue for nearly a year. One conclusion is clear: more jail space is needed.

The jail is dangerously overcrowded. The lives and safety of the correctional officers who staff our jail will be endangered if changes aren’t made. The jail just was not built to accommodate the number of inmates it currently houses. The dispute lies in how best to pay for expanded jail facilities.

I reject wholeheartedly that property taxes should be raised to construct or expand our jails.

Kootenai County remains one of those cherished communities where the American dream of home ownership can still be realized by all. High property tax rates are the quickest route to taking away our childrens’ most important inheritance - the ability to own a home of their own.

I fully endorse expanding the Kootenai County Jail. As a homeowner and father of four, I cannot support raising property taxes to pay for it. Kevin Krieg Post Falls

Use revenue bond program for expansion

Do we allow our county commissioners to push forward and submit the need for a new jail to the voters in a biased manner, or do we move ahead with a calm and thoughtful approach to resolve the problem with equanimity to the taxpayers?

Kootenai County is not the first governmental agency to require funding to meet a social need created by rapid population growth. The financial process being promoted now is totally wrong.

It does not take a rocket scientist to recognize that Kootenai County has an immediate need to resolve the expanding jail population.

This can be accomplished with a prudent program whereby revenue bonds would be issued to cover the costs. The program would detail the length of time for issuance and the amounts of monies required to retire the bonds wherein the least amount of taxpayer monies would be applicable. John Marshall Coeur d’Alene

Remember: Sales tax not deductible

I think there are alternatives to building a new Kootenai County jail that could be considered, but our commissioners are so anxious to spend our money that they will not even consider them. First of all, most of the inmates are there on nonviolent offenses and could be dealt with in other ways. The tribe also is willing to help, but the commissioners have dismissed that out of hand.

No matter how many of our tax dollars they manage to wrest from us, please remember that sales taxes are not deductible from our state or federal tax returns and property taxes are. This is no small consideration to those of us who make all of our money from wages and not capital gains and tax-exempt investments like the big boys. Retired people from out of state with expensive lakeside property and little taxable income will benefit most as will large, rich property owners (we all know who they are) who do not take home most of their income in taxable wages. Once again, Mr. and Mrs. Backbone of the Country get the dirty end of the stick. Judith Dean Coeur d’Alene

Increasing sales tax not the right answer

I believe like most people in Kootenai County that a real capacity problem does exist. Most friends and acquaintances believe that an increase in sales taxes is not the correct method to finance the jail.

One reason is that it’s not deductible from a property owners’ federal or state income tax. All homeowners should participate in the paying of such facilities. In addition, a non-resident property owner could avoid paying for his rightful obligation if the sales tax method were employed.

Another reason I am against the sales tax plan there is no limit on the size of a cost overrun. It is my understanding if the commissioners overrun a levy budget they have to take the problem back to the taxpayers for any additional funding. The sales tax method is unfair and burdensome on the less fortunate. If the sales tax method is ever approved the large property owners would receive one huge tax break. Businesses don’t pay the same amount of sales tax per $1,000 of expenses as do other taxpayers. The sales tax is the most harsh and unequal tax that can be levied on the poor!

It was no error that the proposed use of a sales tax was defeated by the public; they realized that many problems existed and the commissioners’ plan was flawed. We cannot allow one commissioner, who has made himself a political life on the one false premise of never raising property taxes, to implement a worse taxing problem than property taxes. Al Sharon Post Falls

Let the private sector pay for new jail

One way to pay for a new Kootenai County jail, and I’m sure this has been stewed over for a long time, is to put the system in private hands. Sure, that way we get rid of the unwanted dregs of society and profit from it, too. Larry Locke Coeur d’Alene

Property tax will stay; sales tax will go away

The simplest and cleanest way to pay for the jail expansion is through a sales tax. Regardless of how some hard-headed people refuse to believe this tax has a limited application it does! A half-cent sales tax is set for five years. It is allowed by law that Ada County and Kootenai County can tax themselves because of the tourist impact on these two counties. All other taxing comes from the Legislature.

This tax is allowed and the same law that allows it, says that half of the money raised has to be applied to county property relief! So, we expand the jail for $12 million and the sales tax raises $24 million over the five years planned, means $12 million goes into property tax relief.

Those advocating the use of property taxes to fund the same project will cause that tax to stay on forever! It will not have a shelf life of five years and a bond would have a longer life, too, plus debt service costs. The method of funding has been chewed to a frazzle. Once it is written into the ballot language, you can bet that is the way it will be. Sometimes tax laws make sense.

This issue has been studied to death, too. In the early planning, busing inmates to out-of-county facilities was a major concern. In less than two years this fear is a reality. Why do we stand here idle? R.R. Seward Coeur d’Alene

Raising property taxes clear-cut answer

The fact that the Kootenai County jail is overcrowded should be undisputed at this point. Just look at the recent number of drug-related arrests in the Coeur d’Alene area, and the answer is obvious. How the expansion should be funded is just as evident to myself. Property taxes are traditionally used to fund such public services. This is the clear-cut answer, and although it is an additional burden to Kootenai County property owners, it is a more equitable transfer of tax burden, rather than increasing sales tax on an already highly taxed state.

The property tax distributes the tax burden to rental property owners, who in turn will hopefully screen applicants more carefully and avoid housing the meth labs that are springing up all over Kootenai County. Raising the sales tax will affect not only local tourism and shopping, but our low-income families who cannot make ends meet already with our low wage rates and combination sales and income tax burdens. Molly Hustoft Coeur d’Alene

Everyone should pay, not just homeowners

I think we need a new jail, but paying for it may be the problem. People like myself and my family who own our homes already are paying for so much out of our property tax that maybe this one should come from “everyone” in Kootenai County by increasing sales tax. I think this is a good idea if indeed “they” keep the time frame of the increase as stated. Sometimes when these things are implemented they are just forgotten about and the increase stays in effect forever. Plus, I feel that a lot of people who “use” the jails are from the minority of non-homeowners so why should we always pay for them? I wish there was a way for the prisoners to pay for their own jail - this to me would be the best solution. Sometimes I see them as having a “free ride.” Donna Akins Athol

Property owners shouldn’t take burden

Re: A new Kootenai County jail. Property taxes should not be raised. Why should just property owners have to take on the burden of overcrowded jails to house criminals (no matter what the level of offense) who in large part are non-property owners, out of county/state residents or transients? The tax problem should be shared by all who come to this area permanently or temporarily or just for shopping. After all, the “overcrowded residents” of the jail affect all persons who visit or live in this area, not just property owners. S.J. Olson Hayden

Jail everyone’s problem, not just homeowners

Each metropolitan area of the U.S. is faced with the same problem: how to pay for jail expansion. Kootenai County voters elected the county commissioners to do the job of running the county. It is their best managerial decision to increase the sales tax. If the voters of Kootenai County don’t want a sales tax increase, then present a proposal to the commissioners that has all the questions answered.

I have read numerous letters to the editor that complain about a property or sales tax increase, yet I haven’t read any workable proposal to the contrary. Many voters give lip service to the problem of an overcrowded jail, but go about their daily life not caring. Heck, it’s the commissioners’ jobs to figure out how to house the inmates, not mine! Then when a workable proposal is introduced, the Monday-morning politicians get their 2 cents in by bad mouthing the proposal.

The county jail is everyone’s problem, not just the property owners’. Therefore, let everyone in this county contribute to the management and maintenance of this facility. Which, by the way, we the voters and non-voting citizens demanded the county build! George C. Rekow Post Falls

Half-percent sales tax increase could work

We definitely need to enlarge the current jail. If a half-percent sales tax was added, to be rescinded on a specific date, it could work. Of course, business feels that they will lose customers to the adjoining counties because of this sales tax hike. I don’t believe that will happen. If customers are happy dealing with a company, they will come back. There are a lot of residents of this county who shop in Spokane all the time and don’t mind paying the 8.1 percent sales tax over there. If the county went this direction, then some of those “visiting” our jail might help contribute, as they buy products in one form or another before their “visit.” Beverly Young Rathdrum

Raise sales tax; charge inmates board, room

Re: a new Kootenai County jail. Since we seem unable to educate our younger people to stay away from meth and behave themselves, a process that would be most desirable, a jail seems the only alternative. A sales tax increase would be preferable to a property tax increase since it is doubtful many jail occupants pay property taxes but most would pay sales tax. A room-and-board fee charged to jail occupants also should be considered. Ralph E. Hallock Hayden

Look deeper to find workable solution

Re: A new Kootenai County jail. Throwing money, regardless of its source, at a non-working system is so no-brained. A roof is not fixable from the top. A roofer must go to the first, non-rotten level before applying more material. Bankrupting law-abiding citizens to provide for criminals leaves a huge gap in government’s credibility. Perhaps we could look deeper and employ creative thinking to find workable solutions.

Export 10 criminals for each one imported.

People in jail for slight offenses could be released rather than releasing hardcore criminals.

Each person who decried the inhumaneness of jails could adopt a criminal.

Delete the plethora of kneejerk laws that tied the hands of citizens while perpetuating crime, thereby reducing costly “legal hoop-jump.”

Parking garages, bankrupt buildings and/or vacant mini-malls could be inexpensively converted to holding tanks.

Two cities could share expenses for one facility. Check it out. Criminals live in far better surroundings than the majority of the world. Sandra Turner Coeur d’Alene

Stop coddling bad guys; put them in tents

Raise the property tax? Raise sales tax? Nah, I don’t think so. We need to learn a lesson from places like Maricopa County, Ariz., where instead of raising taxes to build new jails they constructed tent city jails without air conditioning or cable TV. Places where the inmates maintain the facility. Places that are harsh and unfriendly.

Now I know this is cruel but, hey folks, these are criminals, semi- to really bad guys, people who rape and murder and steal from folks like you and me. Does it bother you that they live in overcrowded conditions and might have to sleep on the floor? Not me. Would it bother you if they had to live in tents (my daughter is in the Air Force in a foreign country and she lives in a tent) without central heat and air? Not me.

Me? I’m sick of coddling bad guys. I don’t know about you but if I had to face the prospect of living in a tent in the middle of winter I just might think once or twice before I committed some stupid crime. Mike Pierce Coeur d’Alene

Sales tax increase won’t hurt car dealers

Regarding the expansion of the Kootenai County Jail, and how it will be financed has produced some untruthful advertising the last time it was voted on.

This half-percent increase in local sales taxes, will not harm the local car dealers, as advertised in the last election. If a customer were now to buy a new vehicle for $20,000, the sales tax would be $1,000. If the new sales tax was 5.5 percent, the sales tax would be $1,100, an increase of $100.

The point is, where else could the customer go to get a better price on a new vehicle? Sandpoint? Or how about Lewiston? Or better yet, how about Spokane, where the sales tax is more than 8 percent, instead of 5.5 percent.

Being a retired new car dealer, I can assure you that this is a misrepresentation of the truth saying that it will hurt the car dealers. And in the last election, it was noted that only two or three dealers said it was going to hurt their business, and all the other car dealers were not joining in the the misleading ad campaign in the paper. Tom Akren Post Falls