POST FALLS: Home of high taxes

It is well-known that the Post Falls property taxes are the highest in the area. Higher even than those in Coeur d’Alene and more than double those in Hayden on an equal comparison basis. However, it is not well appreciated that these high taxes have an effect of lowering the property values in these towns. Understandably, people prefer living in a location like Hayden with their low taxes and are willing to pay a premium for these houses. On the other hand, the high taxes in Post Falls cause the people to have to lower their selling prices in order to sell their houses. Therefore, the homeowners in Post Falls receive a double whammy, first when they have to pay their exorbitant taxes and secondly when selling their house having to accept a discounted price.

In the first six months of this year the average home sale price in Post Falls was $179,592 compared to an average price of $199,428 in Coeur d’Alene and an average price of $236,850 in Hayden. People are willing to pay a much higher price for a house in Hayden because of their lower taxes and will only purchase a house in Post Falls if given a significant discount. The high taxes imposed by our mayor and council really hurt the residents of Post Falls in many ways.

It seems that the Post Falls mayor and council members (with the exception of Kerri Thoreson) think they can indefinitely raise our taxes and layer on URL taxes for frivolous purposes such as the “bridge to nowhere” at Greensferry and the bike path underpass on Route 41 with impunity. Rather than always raising taxes they should be looking for ways to consolidate services with surrounding towns, increase efficiencies, lower manpower head counts, and lower salaries and benefits.

They should be challenging our town manager to lower our cost of government and improve efficiency. The mantra of our town should no longer be “tax and spend;” this is not the North Idaho way. If the town of Hayden can do it, Post Falls should be able to tighten their belts also. Sure, hard decisions would have to be made but that is what our mayor and council members are elected to make. Kerri Thoreson is the only person who has voted not to increase our taxes. Fortunately she will be running for mayor this fall so we may be able to reverse this downhill slide.

DAVID SHAW

Post Falls