COUNTY: Mind your business

| February 26, 2020 1:00 AM

Perhaps some of our county officials would be best advised to pay closer attention to the county needs and have less concern about the various city redevelopment agencies. Just to be clear, city residents pay county taxes. County residents do not pay city taxes.

The claims of advisory votes and lost revenue to the county are both bogus and overstated. If redevelopment of an area anywhere doesn’t result in an economic advantage, then there is no revenue loss to the county. The county continues to collect taxes in the same manner.

What if the redevelopment never occurred? There would likely be no increase in value. What if the area declined? There would be less revenue for everyone.

Government spending requires budgeting and planning. “The county hasn’t built a facility since 1997,” a Press article stated. “In that time about 200 employees have been added to the county’s payroll. The county now employs 830 people. The majority of those employees work out of the downtown Coeur d’Alene campus.”

If the county has basically done nothing to allow for the needed increase in services and employees, recognizing that different commissioners and city employees were making those decisions, then the need for this fire drill shouldn’t fall on the various redevelopment districts. My suggestion is that some current county officials start planning, thinking and budgeting for current and future needs of our county and stop attacking city efforts that are creating a better quality of life.

PHIL WARD

Coeur d’Alene