Show us the money

COEUR d'ALENE - Here come the costs.

On Thursday, the architect team behind the McEuen Field redevelopment project will present estimated price tags tied to revamping the downtown park.

While estimates are just that - estimates - releasing the financial figures for the first time will quantify a number that has been debated and used by some as a reason not to do the project.

The next step after city officials learn those numbers is up in the air.

Mayor Sandi Bloem said "more questions, more analysis and more input" will come after the estimates arrive.

"Really, it's just another step in a very thorough process to get to the final plan," she said.

The following week, April 20, the city's urban renewal agency, Lake City Development Corp., is expected to begin looking at how much it could contribute financially to the project.

The agency contracted Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp. for up to $11,250 in January to analyze potential future revenues for the agency before the Lake District - the urban renewal boundary in which McEuen Parks sits - closes in 2021.

From those estimates, the board will later discuss how much it would be comfortable borrowing to allocate toward the park.

"We're going to take a conservative approach," said LCDC Finance Chairman Rod Colwell.

Friday, Councilman Mike Kennedy said the city could look at other revenue streams like grants, donations and partnerships to lessen the city's financial obligation.

"Even when you hear a number, when we hear a number, that is not a number that is necessarily going to come out of the checkbook of you, the taxpayer," Kennedy said to the North Idaho Pachyderm Club. "That is a number (for) what this thing is probably going to cost overall and now we need to get to the process of looking for the grants, and the partnerships, and the funding and all of that."

Kennedy said he's undecided which way he would vote for the project at this point.

Several pachyderm members expressed concerns with the project, including how it is going to be funded.

They said because urban renewal funds are increment property tax monies, Kootenai County residents are affected. Levy rates adjust to make up for revenue other taxing districts aren't collecting. They also said that the McEuen Field project benefits downtown property above everyone else.

"Cost is immaterial, the project is going to go through because the City Council wants it to," said Ray Zuleski, pachyderm member, after the meeting.

Zuleski said he didn't support the project.

"I just think it's going to benefit a few and cost a lot," he said.

Philosophy on urban renewal has long been a divisive topic in Idaho. Proponents, as Kennedy addressed Friday, say that urban renewal doesn't increase taxes, but increases valuations based on recruiting private investments both inside and those that follow outside districts.

"This is not McEuen Park, this is a much broader topic on urban renewal," Kennedy said. But "in order to try and keep your city growing and healthy, creating a vibrant downtown core is an important part of that. If we disagree with that philosophically, that's a very respectable disagreement, but that's one I'll argue until the cows come home."

The workshop covering the cost estimates is open to the public, but public testimony will not be taken. It's at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Parkside Towers, 601 E. Front Ave.

The LCDC meeting is at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 in the Community Room of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.