District seeks temporary tax bump

The East Side Highway District is going to the polls again to ask voters to approve a $1 million tax increase during the next two years.

This time the district isn’t pushing a permanent tax increase, saying it heard voters object to any long-term increase after unsuccessful measures in May and 2006.

Instead, the Aug. 7 election for the district, which covers part of Coeur d’Alene and extends east to Cataldo and south to Harrison, will ask voters to support paying $500,000 a year during the next two years to buy equipment. Absentee ballots are available at the Kootenai County Elections Office, 1808 Third St., Coeur d’Alene.

Property owners in the district would pay an additional $24.83 per $100,000 property value if the levy is approved. They now pay about $33 per $100,000 of property value.

The two-year levy needs approval by a simple majority, not the two-thirds vote required for a permanent tax increase. In May, 55 percent of voters supported the permanent increase, short of the two-thirds approval needed.

“We need to get better equipment so our crews can get back on the road,” Highway Commissioner Jimmie Dorsey said.

The old fleet requires crews to spend as much time fixing and tinkering as they do maintaining the network of roads that serve one of the fastest-growing areas of Kootenai County.

The levy increase would allow the district to buy two graders, three dump trucks and an asphalt patcher. It also would free up money in the budget to maintain the 141 miles of gravel roads and 97 miles of paved roads within the district.

The highway commission also is worried about the anticipated loss of Craig-Wyden federal timber payments to counties that include large amounts of national forestlands. If the payment program is not renewed, the district’s maintenance and operation budget would be cut by 71 percent, or about $180,000. And that would mean less maintenance and road repairs and perhaps fewer employees.

Also on the August ballot is the sub-district 3 commission seat that represents the Harrison area. Dorsey, a retired Washington Department of Transportation engineer, was appointed to the position 2 ½ years ago. Derek Smith, of Harrison, is running against him.

All voters in the district can vote in the commission race regardless of whether they live in sub-district 3. Yet voters must cast ballots at their designated polling place:

Coeur d’Alene-area voters: Harding Family Center, 411 N. 15th St.

Cataldo-area voters: Canyon School Gym, 27491 E. School House Loop.

Harrison-area voters: Harrison Senior Center, 103 E. Pine St.

For more information call the East Side Fire District at (208) 765-4714 or the Kootenai County Elections Office at (208) 446-1030.