County pushes impact fee bill

Before Kootenai County decides to charge impact fees to help pay for the area’s unprecedented growth, it wants the Legislature to allow some of the money to go to fire, water and irrigation districts.

The county is pushing a bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, that would expand state law to allow counties to work with the districts to collect impact fees. State law now allows counties to collaborate only with highway districts to share the collection of impact fees, which are charges assessed on residential and commercial building permits.

County Commissioner Todd Tondee said the law states that developer fees can go toward improvements to water and wastewater systems, parks and public safety facilities. Yet by only including highway districts, the law negates the county’s ability to partner with the other taxing districts directly affected by growth, Tondee said.

“It’s not going to make growth pay for itself, but it’s going to get us a lot closer to that,” said Tondee, who plans to testify for House Bill 204 when it goes before the House Local Government Committee on Monday.

Tondee said he’s unsure whether to expect opposition from the building and real estate industries. The Idaho Association of Realtors will review the bill today, and the group’s government affairs director, John Eaton, said he doesn’t initially see any problems with the change.

Charlie Rens, president of the North Idaho Building Contractors Association, wasn’t available for comment.

Dan Chadwick, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, said the group’s legislative committee will review the bill today. Chadwick said he is certain it will get the association’s support.

Impact fees are a hot topic in Kootenai County, which is experiencing heavy development in rural areas, including proposals for large, private golf resorts around Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Tondee, who was elected in November, said impact fees were a common question in the campaign.

If the other taxing districts are included in law, they would help share the cost of a study to determine how much growth is affecting the county’s infrastructure. The study, which could cost $150,000, is required by law before any county may charge impact fees. It would sort out how much revenue the fee system should generate and show how the county and other taxing districts could spend the money.

By law, the county would collect the fees and dole out the money to participating districts. The taxing districts are unable to collect impact fees because they don’t have the authority to make laws.

If Kootenai County begins charging impact fees, it would become the first county in the state to do so. Many Idaho cities, including Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden and Rathdrum, assess the fees.

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem encouraged the commission during a joint city-county meeting Friday to pursue impact fees even though the study is expensive and the process complicated.

Chadwick said attempts to simplify the law, which also dictates how cities charge developer fees, would take a lot of agreement and compromise with developers.