NIC: Hurt by urban renewal

It’s sad that the North Idaho College’s Board of Trustees hurried to make a major change without looking at all the options. They downgraded the sports conference because of the budget, but at the same time did not look at the millions of dollars in taxpayer money that was intended for the college but went to urban renewal instead.

Most people don’t realize that urban renewal is LCDC (Lake City Development Corp.) in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls; Hayden and Spirit Lake have it also. Together, they are given a lot of money that should go to the college. Here are the amounts for the last three years, according to the county. The amount going to urban renewal for 2013 will be ready the middle of April. It appears that it will follow the same amounts as in years past.

2012 = $ 900,000

2011 = $1,000,000

2010 = $ 900,000

The Board of Trustees should take their time and get all the information before making these important decisions. They should also support the legislative bill sponsored by Sen. Bob Nonini of Post Falls that is going through the legislature right now. It would exempt community colleges from having their tax dollars diverted to urban renewal. We need all the help for education we can get! (One of the community colleges has received less than $4 million in one year because of their URS’s.)

SHARON CULBRETH

Coeur d’Alene