Hayden residents, don't be misled

In the business world it is often said that if influence is social currency, then integrity is gold. I appreciate that this is an election year. I'm aware that some organizations will resort to misleading the public to gain an advantage. I hope we can rise above such tactics and recognize that civil discourse and honesty will win the day. I hope I'm not so old-fashioned that I've become obsolete in my attitude.

NIBCA recently took out a full-page ad claiming the city's sewer capitalization fees on developers are an illegal tax. There are so many blatantly false and misleading statements in their "ad" that it is difficult to know where to begin.

Contrary to NIBCA's statements, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that sewer capitalization fees are NOT an illegal tax and did NOT strike down the fee. Instead, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the District Court for the city to show whether the fees are justified based on a different calculation than the city originally used. By the way, the methodology the city of Hayden originally used to calculate sewer capitalization fees is the same as many other cities and jurisdictions in the state of Idaho use. The city has now performed the recalculation using a methodology identified as appropriate by the Idaho Supreme Court and has found the fees were fully justified (and in fact lower then what we could have been charging). In other words, the fees are legal.

NIBCA also claims that the city has ignored all written requests to meet with them. Again, NOT TRUE. The day after the city's consultants finished the recalculation of fees, we contacted NIBCA's legal counsel offering to visit them at their office to explain the new calculation. They declined our offer. A week later NIBCA published its ad making claims to the contrary.

NIBCA claims that these fees do not benefit a single current citizen. I'm astonished in the lack of rational thought behind such a statement. The city of Hayden is committed to making growth pay for itself. The city's sewer capitalization fees do exactly that. NIBCA wants to use the false claim of illegal taxes so its developer members don't have to pay their full share of sewer fees. In other words, they want you, the citizens of Hayden, to pay for their share of growth.

When integrity is absent, civility is impaired. Enough with the false accusations. NIBCA is upset because the end result of its costly litigation is the Idaho Supreme Court's confirmation that the city is justified in requiring growth to pay for itself. Now it is just a question of which methodology to use. As it turns out, the fee the city has been charging developers for their share of growth may have been a bit too low. I can understand why NIBCA is smarting, but that does not justify their attack on the city. From now on, let's stick to the facts.

Ronald B. McIntire is mayor, resident, business owner and taxpayer in the city of Hayden.