BOND: Shorter proposal is needed

In the past month, there have been many articles in The Press regarding how taxing districts are going to handle taxes for the next year or so. The problem has been that voters are being faced with levies and it is very true, once a levy is passed, it seems as if it will never go away, just like us passing various tax measures.

This brings me to the $2 million levy being proposed by Kootenai County Fire & Rescue. The voters have just paid off a $2 million levy and now the Fire Commissioners want to run the levy again for another 10 years.

Using the facts and figures provided to me by the Chief of Kootenai County Fire, the interest to finance this bond for 10 years will cost $429,000 at a rate of 4 percent interest. While the commissioners say they will not raise your taxes, they state it will cost the average $100,000 property valuation $6.64. However, if the commissioners were fiscally responsible they would have opted for another proposal. The commissioner could elect to run the levy for five years, thus saving nearly a quarter of a million dollars in interest. The change would simply have taxpayers paying an additional $5.09 on top of the $7.09 we currently pay and we would not only save money, but we could end the levy much sooner. If the commissioners want to come back in another five years with another levy, then the voters could reconsider it. In the meantime, the voters would have enjoyed five years of not paying for any levy. Wouldn't any responsible parent tell their child to finance a home mortgage for an extra $5 when they could cut the total payout by half?

While the news article discussed the need to repair the administration building for example, such repairs should have taken place over the past many years using annual dollars collected from us. Instead, the district has neglected upkeep of the facility. We should hold them accountable for this when reelection time comes.

I am calling on all voters to reject this proposal and require the Fire Commissioners to bring a new proposal to us, the voters, in November which would cut a 10-year payback to five years and save $220,000 in interest!

The commissioners like raising the levy issue now because they know the voter turnout will be much lower than the normal November election and it is more likely to pass. As voters, let's take back control of our taxing system from bureaucrats.

GARY NYSTROM

Post Falls