CdA won’t take all of available tax increase

Retiree Ron Catlin has a solution for how Coeur d’Alene can rein in its $61 million budget – hire volunteers to do everything from mow city parks to filing paperwork.

“This is my solution for ‘Hey, we can cut the budget and expenses and still augment and meet all the needs of the community,’” said Catlin, who with his wife volunteers for the city Police Department. They have spent the summer greeting tourists on Sherman Avenue and handing out pamphlets on things to do in the Lake City.

Catlin, a retired Kraft Foods salesman who moved to Coeur d’Alene four years ago, made the pitch to the Coeur d’Alene City Council last month at a budget workshop.

After hearing from Catlin and a spokesman for Concerned Businesses of North Idaho, the council opted not to take all of the 3 percent increase in property tax allowed by state law. Instead Coeur d’Alene is taking only 2 percent, which means it will save taxpayers $117,000.

And the city will consider how to make better use of volunteers, perhaps creating a volunteer commission to make suggestions.

The council will have a public hearing on the proposed budget Tuesday at 6 p.m. That’s the same night Post Falls and the Kootenai county commission are having budget hearings.

Post Falls, which writes a two-year budget each summer, has included the 3 percent increase for both the 2007 and 2008 budget years. The proposed 2007 budget totals $13.8 million while the proposed 2008 budget totals $14.5 million.

The county’s proposed budget totals $63.5 million including money for nearly 27 new employees. The county commission chose not to take the 3 percent because it is receiving about $1.3 million in new growth and an additional $1.2 million in state dollars to run current services and hire new employees.

In the county, the 3 percent increase in property taxes would have added about $889,000 to the budget.

Coeur d’Alene Finance Director Troy Tymesen had encouraged the city to take the total property tax increase available, or $353,596, because it hardly registers in a total budget of $61 million, he said.

In tax dollars, the 3 percent would have equated to about $10 for the owner of a $100,000 home because the levy rate, which is used to calculate the property tax amount, is actually going down.

Yet the council directed him to make the cut.

The city still can hire three new policemen and three new firefighters, yet the fire workers will have to start later in the year because of the $117,000 reduction, Tymesen said.

The city also will have the money to increase part-time hours for existing street and library employees.

Property taxes have become a main concern for North Idaho residents as property values skyrocket. Because of the intense interest, Coeur d’Alene had an extra budget workshop Aug. 9.

Tymesen said only 10 people attended, likely because it appeared nearly guaranteed that the Idaho Legislature would provide property tax relief. That’s exactly what happened during the Aug. 25 special session, when lawmakers passed a plan to cut property taxes and raise the sales tax.

“The energy was greatly dissipated about the property tax issue,” Tymesen said.