Meeting to discuss property tax relief
Angry North Idahoans will hold a town hall meeting tonight in Sandpoint to discuss the Legislature’s lack of action on property tax relief.
A House revenue and taxation subcommittee didn’t make a decision on eight property tax relief bills Friday, and an interim committee might be set up to discuss the issue. But several Panhandle lawmakers said that move has angered people in their districts.
“All those bills are dead, that’s the word,” said Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls. “It’s just not responding to the public’s needs.”
“We made a commitment to try to pass legislation and make changes,” said Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, the sponsor of one tax relief bill. “If they can’t see it happen in the Legislature, they want something done.”
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Panida Theatre.
Among the topics that will be discussed, Eskridge said, will be how to find ways to put a cap on the property tax, assessment and local spending. Property values are skyrocketing so quickly that people can’t afford their taxes, he said.
Henderson, who sponsored another of the bills, said over the weekend he received calls and e-mails from people saying if the Legislature doesn’t act they’ll support an initiative.
Bill would make inmates pay for health care
Sheriff’s departments could seek reimbursement for health costs from inmates who have a means to pay, under a bill passed Monday by the Idaho House.
Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, the sponsor of HB 157, told lawmakers the move would ease the burden of property taxpayers, who are being forced to shoulder the escalating medical costs of inmates. Kootenai County spends nearly $250,000 on medical care for inmates, he said.
“The obligation has become a major expense to every Idaho county,” said Henderson.
The sheriff’s departments would take money from the inmates’ commissary accounts while they’re in jail – the money they use for small, daily items – or collect the money after they are released.
The departments could also seek money from insurance providers if the inmates have an active policy.
The measure passed the House 64-2 and now moves to the Senate.
‘View’ segment on CdA moved to Thursday
A segment on a morning talk show featuring Coeur d’Alene as one of the nation’s top five “Up and Coming Neighborhoods” was postponed until Thursday.
“The View” program was originally scheduled to air at 10 a.m. Monday on KXLY, Channel 4.
Man reportedly shot in domestic dispute
An apparent domestic dispute landed a 26-year-old Kendrick, Idaho, man in St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston on Monday with a gunshot to his leg.
Latah County Sheriff’s Detective Jennifer McFarland said deputies responded just after midnight to a home about three miles northwest of Kendrick off state Highway 99. Interviews led deputies to believe the shooting happened several hours earlier during an argument between the man and his 25-year-old wife. McFarland declined to identify the couple until an investigation is complete.
No children were at the site, she said. The man was treated and released. No arrests were made.
300 expected to dance at NIC powwow
About 300 dancers are expected to participate in the Gathering Place Powwow later this month at North Idaho College.
North Idaho College sits on land that was the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s winter home. The site was called “Yap-Keehn-Um,” a Coeur d’Alene term that means “the gathering place.”
This year’s powwow, March 18-19, will include Native American food, arts and crafts, drum circles and dancers. All events are free, open to the public and will be held at Christianson Gymnasium at NIC’s main campus in Coeur d’Alene.
The powwow begins with the grand entry at 7 p.m. March 18. Grand entry on March 19 is scheduled for 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
North Idaho College is co-sponsoring the powwow with the Coeur d’Alene and Kootenai tribes.
For information, call (208) 769-3365.