Petition To Dissolve Road District Studied

A petition to dissolve the Sandpoint Independent Highway District is before the Bonner County Commissioners with 56 valid signatures.

The commissioners today are expected to schedule a public hearing on the petition, after which they will decide whether to hold an election on the issue. The petition only needs 25 valid signatures to warrant a public hearing.

Petitioners claim that the highway district, which shares almost the same boundaries as the City of Sandpoint, does a poor job of maintaining city streets, wastes money, is an inconvenience to the public and businesses. The public would be better served, petitioners claim, if street maintenance were managed by the city.

While the city of Sandpoint has not taken a position on the dissolution, the city is having the highway district investigated for a possible violation of the open meetings law. A recent change in the highway district’s budget meant a loss of $74,000 in tax revenue to the city.

City officials maintain the budget change required a public hearing, which was did not take place.