Column: Why your Cd'A property taxes increased

By DAN GOOKIN

Special to The Press

No one’s happy. The talk on the street isn’t good, and there have been several editorials in The Press. The theme is the same: Why are our elected officials in Coeur d’Alene raising our property taxes in the middle of recession?

The answer is disappointing, and it won’t surprise you.

I’ve heard members of the Council say that Urban Renewal is the only economic development tool available to elected officials. That isn’t true.  The first and best tool elected officials have for economic development is fiscal responsibility. That responsibility is missing in spades on our City Council.

And, no, Urban Renewal isn’t the reason that the city council will vote next Tuesday to raise your taxes.

A 1 percent pay increase for city employees isn’t the reason that they’re raising taxes either.

The reason your property taxes are going up is that the City Council voted on Aug. 3 to bend the rules for their friends. The council voted to approve the annexation of the former DeArmond mill site into the city. That’s the property that will become the future Education Corridor.

The annexation fees for the property, which is being purchased for $10,000,000, amount to $216,495. That money would have gone into the City’s general fund budget. But it didn’t.

That’s because on Aug. 3, the City Council voted unanimously to waive the fees.

The official language of the annexation agreement states that the fees are to be replaced by some equivalent consideration that is to be named at an undetermined time in the future.

In other words, the City Council turned down over $200,000 in fee income, which would have helped balance the budget, and instead chose to raise your taxes. Unanimously.

Keep in mind that North Idaho College isn’t buying the property; it’s the non-profit NIC Foundation making the purchase.  Like any other private organization, they should have to pay the fees. It’s only fair.

Here in Coeur d’Alene, we’ve often seen our elected officials make similar poor decisions regarding public money.

Back in 2007, the Council voted to give over $3,000,000 to the Kroc Center. The money was in exchange for “future recreational opportunities” for the citizens of Coeur d’Alene. That seems like a good thing, but according to a public records request, I was told that there are no opportunities available.

Whether there will be an equivalent of $216,495 for the annexation fees from the old mill site remains to be seen. For the immediate future, your taxes are going up in the worst of times because the City Council choose not to waive your tax increase.

Dan Gookin is a Coeur d’Alene resident and former City Council candidate.