Hayden leader: Reject city's ballot request

HAYDEN — Voters should shoot down the city’s request to increase its levy rate.

That’s not an editorial opinion. It’s the request of the man who happens to be the city’s mayor and, according to him, is agreed upon unanimously by members of the Hayden City Council.

On Tuesday, Steve Griffitts said that after dozens of public presentations, smaller group meetings and one-on-ones with citizens for and against the tax-increase measure, he had reached a startling conclusion.

“I’m voting against it and I’m asking Hayden citizens to vote against it,” Griffitts told The Press.

The measure, which requires 60 percent voter approval for passage, calls for the city’s tax base to increase by $1.633 million annually. The additional funding is earmarked for two specific areas: $653,000 for four additional sheriff’s deputies, which would double the city’s law enforcement contingent; and $980,000 for better roads.

Griffitts said his strong support for the request eroded when he began to see that some in the community completely misunderstood what was being sought.

“I’ve heard from people who believe their property tax would double,” he said. “They think that if they’re paying $2,000 now, it’ll go to $4,000.”

That’s not at all accurate. The request would cost the owner of a $275,000 home in Hayden an additional $222 annually if the measure were to pass, city officials have said.

Griffitts maintains that “the issues are real, but we can do better with our request, and our communication.”

The first-term mayor also acknowledged that the level of vitriol, added to misinformation and the lack of enough specificity in the proposal, caused him to re-think his support. He said some in a small but outspoken group “have made vile and ignorant comments. They intimidate my family at work and in the public. They don’t come to Town Hall meetings. They want no taxes, but they are the first to call City Hall for help or assistance.”

Because the decision to withdraw support happened so recently, the item could not be removed from ballots. Griffitts said that without council support, he thinks the measure will certainly fail. In that case, the council could come back as early as May with a new request — “or never, if that’s what they decide. It’s completely up to the City Council.”

But what if it does pass on Nov. 6?

“Then the citizens will have decided on their own that this was important to them,” he said.