New aquifer district may go before voters

BOISE – Kootenai County voters would have the final say on whether an aquifer protection district should be created to protect the underground drinking water supply, under legislative changes endorsed Wednesday.

The House Resources and Conservation Committee voted unanimously to amend House Bill 650 to include an election requirement, and to even more clearly specify that it would apply only to the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer in North Idaho. If the bill becomes law, residents in the district would pay an annual fee for aquifer protection that would be included on their property tax bill.

The amendments came after a committee meeting Monday in which the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, fielded heated questions from committee members about the need for the public to have final say on the fees.

“Let them decide if they want it instead of having it forced down their throat,” said House Assistant Majority Leader Mike Moyle of Star.

Nonini said he’s fine with the election requirement but he worries that it will be voted down by people who don’t want to pay to protect their water.

HB 650 allows the aquifer district to charge annual fees of up to $12 a home and $24 a business, although Nonini and Henderson said the fees should remain in the $6 range.

The amended bill would require a petition signed by 50 voters to be submitted to Kootenai County commissioners, who could then call for an election.

Efforts to protect the aquifer had been funded by more than $90,000 a year in state funds, but legislative budget writers have said that won’t go on forever. HB 650 was drafted to make up for the impending loss of the funds.

Because the fee would be included on property tax bills, some lawmakers, like Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, say citizens will see it as just another property tax increase.

“The people are going to have to vote on it and vote to tax themselves,” Clark said. “When the No. 1 issue in northern Idaho is property taxes, why would we want to increase their property tax bill?”

Henderson said North Idahoans realize the importance of protecting the aquifer.

“They all understand (that) to correct a polluted aquifer will be much more expensive,” Henderson said.

Nonini said on Monday that he’d risk his political career to create the district.

“If people don’t want to send me back because I formed the district, so be it,” Nonini said. “This is an important issue.”

Committee members George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, and George Eskridge, R-Dover, said their North Idaho districts are widely supportive of protecting the aquifer.

“This is a viable tool,” Sayler said.

HB 650 requires the election to be held in May or November. If approved by both chambers, the bill would not go into effect until July 1, meaning November would be the first chance to put it on the ballot.

Kootenai County Assessor Mike McDowell said even if it was approved in November, the fee wouldn’t likely show up on this year’s property tax bills.

“It would probably have to go into effect the following year because the December tax bills are usually generated in early October,” McDowell said.

Nonini said the legislation allows for the aquifer district to apply for a loan from the Idaho Department of Water Resources while it waits for the fees, but Clark questioned whether it could be granted a loan when it’s not collecting fees yet and thus doesn’t have a revenue source.

“I’m not sure what this bill does (for the first 18 months), even in its final form,” Clark said.

HB 650 now moves to the full House for approval of the amendments, and then needs approval from both houses and the governor’s signature to become law.