Weighing our options

Along with the presidential, congressional and legislative races facing Kootenai County voters on Nov. 2 is an advisory ballot measure asking for opinions regarding the local option sales tax.

Today, candidates for Senate and House seats in Legislative District 5, which represents most of Post Falls and other areas of Kootenai County, weigh in on this and other issues facing Kootenai County voters.

The county currently charges a half-cent sales tax to cover the repayment of a jail expansion bond. Half of the revenue from the tax goes toward property tax relief. The local option tax was authorized by a special bill passed in the Idaho Legislature that allows local option taxes for the purpose of paying the cost of jail construction. When the jail is paid off in 2006, the half-cent tax will expire.

County officials would like to see the local option tax continue to pay for projects other than jails. That would take another act of the Legislature.

The advisory measure on the county’s ballot will ask voters if they want the Legislature to allow counties to use local option taxes for projects other than jails. The results are not binding, but if voters support the measure, then county officials can take the results to Boise to lobby the Legislature to expand the law.

The advisory measure also asks voters what projects they think the local option tax should finance – preserving open space or building a civic center or both.

Again, the results are not binding.

Ultimately, any proposal will have to meet the approval of Kootenai County voters. And that can’t happen until the Legislature gives the local option tax proposal the go-ahead.