Urban renewal bills have momentum

Four bills aimed at increasing the accountability of urban renewal agencies are expected to be heard by a Senate committee as soon as this week after being passed by the House.

The bills, which pertain only to future agencies, include:

* House Bill 95 - establishes agencies by county elections, limits bonds to 20 years and exempts farmland from being incorporated into new urban renewal areas;

* HB96 - allows taxing districts to "opt out" of a URD;

* HB97 - limits districts to specific projects; and

* HB110 - adds a public hearing requirement before an agency is created.

"I am glad to see that the issue of urban renewal reform is making headway," said Erik Makrush, urban renewal policy analyst for the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit watchdog group. "Future districts are going to have to undergo additional scrutiny as these agencies are established - that is very positive change moving forward through the legislative process.

"These reforms are great for Idaho - the way we do business, reigns in government spending, protects productive agriculture land from being converted into urban renewal projects and, most of all, will reduce the overall tax burden for all citizens of the city and county.

In the future, additional legislation needs to examined that will deal with existing UR agencies."

But Tom Lien, Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency executive director, has some concerns over the bills.

He said he can't support an election to create a URA.

"The mayor and city council are elected officials and it is their responsibility to their constituents that elected them to take this action," he said. "Taking that away defeats the purpose of having elected officials in the first place."

Lien said he believes HB 110 represents duplication of a public hearing.

"Even if an agency is created or approved by the governing body, the public has an opportunity of public hearing prior to approval of a specific urban renewal district," Lien said.

Lien said he has no issue with HB97 as it aligns with how the Post Falls URA currently operates.

Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d'Alene, who serves on the Senate's Local Government and Tax Committee that will consider the bills, said he doesn't have any serious concerns over the bills at first glance, but reserved further comment until his committee considers them.

"They provide further guidance to urban renewal agencies," Hammond said.

Two other bills, which would have required a countywide, two-thirds vote for bonds for an urban renewal project and a countywide vote to elect city urban renewal commissioners, failed to pass the House.

"The two bills that failed would have provided the greatest protection for the citizens," Makrush said. "The elections of the urban renewal commissioners is a fundamental principle of accountable government - to elect people who have direct influence over the spending of taxpayer funds. (The other bill) would have provided the same constitutional provision that schools and other taxing districts must go through for bonding."