Highway District Seeks Permanent Boost in Taxes: East Side Levy Would Add $12 Per $100,000
Posted on: Friday, 12 May 2006, 12:04 CDT
By Meghann M. Cuniff, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
May 12--Voters in the East Side Highway District will decide May 23 whether they want to increase their property taxes to pay for road repairs that officials say have fallen substantially behind.
The proposed $400,000 override levy is the first time an Idaho highway district has asked voters to permanently increase their taxes.
If the levy is approved, property owners would pay an additional $12 per $100,000 value per year, bringing their total roads bill to about $59 per $100,000.
"I don't like to pay any more property taxes than anyone else," said Dick Edinger, chairman of the highway district board. "The need is there. Otherwise we would not be doing this."
New homes and other construction within the district totaled about $26 million last year, but only about $16,000 in additional tax revenue came into the highway district, Edinger said.
"That didn't even cover a one-month fuel bill," he said.
The district, with an annual budget of $2.3 million, is in charge of 238 miles of roads -- 145 miles of gravel and 93 miles of pavement.
The district has asphalt that officials would like to use, but there's not enough money to do it without the levy, district supervisor John Pankratz said.
About 7,500 registered voters live in the district, which includes the eastern tip of Coeur d'Alene and extends east to Cataldo and south to the Benewah County line. At least two-thirds of those who vote May 23 would need to support the levy for it to pass.
Voters rejected a $40 million levy from the Coeur d'Alene School District in March, but Edinger is optimistic voters will understand the need for the highway levy and approve it.
"We feel we've been good stewards of our taxpayers and our highway district," he said.
The district had an opportunity to permanently increase the levy in 1994 but chose not to, saving taxpayers millions, Edinger said.
"Now we're coming back to them and asking them for help," he said. "In the last 12 years, everyone can see what's happened in Kootenai County."
Edinger said district officials have been speaking at town hall meetings and city council meetings throughout the district.
Once people understand the condition of the district's roads and the lack of funding, they tend to understand the need for the levy, Pankratz said.
The additional funds would be divided "pretty evenly" throughout the district, he said. Roads needing repairs include French Gulch, Yellowstone, Wolf Lodge, Johnson, Silver Beach and Mullan Trail in Coeur d'Alene, and O'Gara, Deer, Lisa and Squaw Bay roads in the Harrison area.
The district also wants to use the funds to straighten parts of Black Lake Road near Rose Lake and Cataldo.
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Source: The Spokesman-Review
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