Recreation vote has avid foe

An anti-tax man is trying to sink Tuesday’s election in Bonner County that would create a new taxing district to pay for a recreation center.

Larry Spencer, who votes in Kootenai County but was raised in Bonner County and still owns 5 acres there, is a self-described property tax opponent who spent more than $5,000 sending mailings to every registered voter within the boundaries of the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

He vows to spend thousands more on any other property tax issue that pops up in Kootenai or Bonner counties, including school bond and levy elections.

Besides a message condemning the creation of another taxing district, the nearly 8,300 letters to voters within the proposed recreation district boundaries included a pre-addressed postcard that voters could send to the county clerk’s office to receive an absentee ballot.

County Clerk Marie Scott said Spencer’s campaign has significantly boosted the number of absentee ballots normally requested in these special, single-issue elections.

As of Friday, 1,355 absentee ballots had been requested and 907 had been returned.

The backers of the recreation district aren’t thrilled with Spencer’s involvement or what they call his spreading of misinformation by confusing the property tax issue with the community’s need for a recreation district.

“I think it’s really infuriating,” said Robert Pierce, a local veterinarian and hockey player who has spearheaded the vote along with other members of the Sandpoint Centre Corporation. “They’ve created enough chaos and misunderstanding. I just thought people would seek real information before they make a decision.”

The ballot asks voters whether to create a district that would generate tax dollars to fill some types of recreation needs, such as a community center, golf courses and public transportation systems. Pierce’s group is seeking a swimming pool and ice rink on 8 acres in the town of Kootenai.

But the ballot doesn’t address how much money the district would generate from property taxes or how it would be spent.

Pierce estimated the owner of a $250,000 home, including the homeowner’s exemption, would pay about $8 per month in increased property taxes. That would give the district about a $1.3 million annual budget.

If residents approve the district, the governor would appoint a three-member board to manage the district, levy the taxes and decide how to spend the money.

There’s already one recreation district in Bonner County – Selkirk Recreation District – which Schweitzer Mountain property owners created in 1998 to repair the mountain’s roads.

Spencer, 33, is a used-manufactured-home salesman in Athol and said the recreation district is just the beginning of his fight against unneeded property tax increases in both Bonner and Kootenai counties.

A $40 million March school levy election in the Coeur d’Alene School District is next on Spencer’s attack list, followed by an anticipated Lake Pend Oreille School District bond or levy election this spring.

He anticipates he may spend between $10,000 and $20,000 on the Coeur d’Alene election. Spencer has gotten a few donations, but the majority of his funding is coming from the increased value of land he owns. Spencer said he may take a loan on one parcel that has steadily increased in value because he believes in his role as an anti-tax advocate.

“Without an active presence opposing the increasing burden on the taxpayer, the taxing agencies have felt free to increase the tax burden on a yearly basis,” Spencer said. “That’s why I’m getting involved. Somebody has to do it, and I’m good at it – that’s my new slogan.”

The recreation district is Spencer’s second shot at torpedoing a tax measure by getting voters’ attention. His first try was in spring, when he spent $3,000 to send 3,700 mailers opposing the Kootenai Shoshone Library District bond. The bond passed.

At the time, he hadn’t thought of sending the absentee voter requests with the letters, a move he thinks will help his fight in the recreation district vote.

Pierce said the Sandpoint Centre Corporation has spent about $3,000 on advertising, mostly money from the group’s volunteers. They also had to raise $5,000 to pay for the special election and gather more than 4,800 signatures to get it on the ballot.

State campaign law doesn’t require contributors to a special recreation district measure to disclose the amount of money donated.

Pierce said he never expected such a fight. Yet he acknowledged the vote may come at a bad time – when Idaho lawmakers are in Boise battling over property taxes. Just last week, legislators started to wade through 30 property tax relief bills.

He maintained the recreation center isn’t about taxes and the state’s problematic tax structure.

“This will help families, kids and the community,” Pierce said. “The tax fight is in Boise.”