Urban renewal: Feedback is making a difference

Working with a group in the Legislature is an invigorating and challenging experience. Each person on the Urban Renewal Interim Committee has been elected by the people of their unique districts. Each one has strong opinions and the ability to speak to their issues. And each member comes from a community using urban renewal for better or with concerns.

So how do we, the five Senators and five Representatives from all over the state get anything done? By respecting each other’s positions and keeping the focus on you. You are paying for urban renewal through property tax dollars and your feedback has been quite important to the committee.

Last September, we held a Town Hall meeting, here in Cd’A, to get your ideas to improve Idaho’s outdated urban renewal laws. Representative Kathy Sims, also on the interim committee, and I both listened to two hours of public comment on all sides of the issue, from both regular citizens and top area officials. Each comment was noted and documented, along with the many emails I received before and after the meeting from folks who could not attend.

After I compiled the feedback into a two-page bullet-pointed list, it was distributed and discussed at our October Interim Committee meeting. I followed up with individual meetings with our mayor, chamber, Jobs Plus and some area urban renewal officials.

This is all by way of saying, Thank You, to all who shared their thoughts and ideas. Your input has helped focus a very complex process!

That same bullet-point list was the basis for my collaboration with Representative Clow from Twin Falls, who is also on the Interim Committee. His city uses urban renewal very differently than we do here in Coeur d’Alene. Twin Falls has something to teach the rest of the state, which is why working with Rep. Clow, their former mayor, was a good experience.

We came up with a three-page proposal for changes to our current laws, which you can read by going to marysouzaforidaho.com and clicking on the “Senate Journal” button at the top.

At our meeting last week, the Interim Committee was generally supportive of many of our proposals, but not all. The ideas that moved forward were: (to save space I’ve condensed and combined):

1. Create an overall state mandated structure of accountability and enforcement but give local control to cities for the makeup of the urban renewal board, such as term limits, if members can live in the county or only the city, and whether they are appointed or must stand for public election.

2. Allow cities to use city staff for administration of the URA, clerical bookkeeping, etc. The Urban Renewal Agency would then reimburse the city for those hours. (Mayor Widmyer estimates LCDC/ignite cda could save almost $250,000 per year using this method.)

3. Limit the use of urban renewal funds for public buildings such as a city hall, library or public safety buildings, which should go to a public bond vote. (Nampa had this problem.)

4. Give local oversight for urban renewal to the cities, which has not been the case in the past, and allow cities to stipulate limitations and types of uses for tax increment within their districts. The overall mind-set on the interim committee seems to be that tax increment dollars must only be used for infrastructure that will always be owned by the public.

Our Interim Committee has had long discussions about some of these topics, while coming to quick agreement on others. It’s an interesting contrast to see the “hot button” issues from different communities around our state. We are still in the midst of the process, having just completed our fourth all-day monthly meeting last week, and now the suggestions supported by the committee will be put into legal language by the Legislative Services Office, commonly called “LSO” down in the Capitol building.

That draft legislation will be reviewed by the interim committee at a newly scheduled additional meeting in December, so I will have to participate by phone since I’ll be on a long-planned family trip. Final approval will probably be in January, during the first week of the legislative session, then the bill will have to go through the regular process of passage: House tax committee, full House, Senate tax committee, full Senate, Governor’s signature.

It’s a long way for suggested upgrades and improvements to travel, and the path can be fraught with land mines, but keeping government accountable to the taxpayers and responsible with our urban renewal money…Priceless!

Idaho State Senator Mary Souza represents District 4, Coeur d’Alene. You may email comments to MSouza@senate.idaho.gov or marysouzacda@gmail.com.