County budget hearing tonight

By PRESS STAFF

COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County will hold a public hearing on its proposed fiscal 2020 budget at 6 p.m. tonight at the Administration Building, 451 N. Government Way.

It will be the first time the proposal, which comes with a $101.6 million price tag, has exceeded $100 million to start the fiscal year.

The proposed 3% property tax increase the budget calls for will generate about $1.5 million and new growth of $1.2 million.

Taxing entities are allowed to increase property taxes up to 3% per year under Idaho law.

County commissioners have met with department heads for the past three months to hear budget requests and have made more than $16 million in cuts to balance the proposed budget, board Chairman Chris Fillios said.

The budget includes $1.7 million in wage increases. Of that, $900,000 is planned for the Sheriff's Office, including sworn and civilian personnel.

"These wage increases are long overdue," Fillios said, adding that multiple studies in recent years pointed to the need to bring county employees more competitive with wages in the region to reduce turnover. "This will bring most employees up to the market."

A flat 3 percent increase totaling $20,834 is planned for the county's nine elected officials.

The budget also includes $5 million for a new building on the county's downtown campus to relieve crowded departments.

Fillios said the property tax increase doesn't automatically mean taxpayers' county taxes will rise.

"The mill rate will be reduced from $28 to $24 per $100,000 of assessed value and the operating budget will be reduced by 3 percent," he said.

The county approved a 1.5 percent tax increase in each of the past two fiscal years.

Fillios said the county's financial picture remains sound and the entity does not plan to use any of its foregone tax balance for the budget, contrary to many counties.

"We're in good shape," Fillios said.

The county is only a portion of residents' overall tax obligation, which also includes applicable city, school, highway and fire district taxes.