Council invites feedback on Hayden police levy

Hayden City Council is hosting a public forum Oct. 26 on a police levy that would raise property taxes.

"Staff will provide information to the public and the public will have the opportunity to ask any questions they have about the ballot measure," said Abbi Sanchez, Hayden City Clerk. "We are encouraging the public to submit their questions ahead of time so that staff is prepared with information needed to answer them during the meeting."

If approved, the levy would increase the Hayden police budget by nearly $600,000. It would provide funding to hire five new sheriff's deputies and one school resource officer.

They would be in addition to the four deputies currently on staff, more than doubling the current force.

The city levy will be on the Nov. 8 ballot for Hayden residents, and if passed, would pay the officer salaries, but the county will take responsibility for the cost of onboarding: including training, vehicles, gear and other expenses related to the initial hiring process.

Lieutenant Zachary Sifford, public information officer with the sheriff's office, discussed the cost of the levy to property owners.

“It’s an estimated $6.76 per month on a property assessed at $500,000,” Sifford said. “You’re talking about the cost of a coffee a month to provide good officers, good service and community safety.”

The city council was advised by an independent task force to increase police presence in the city. The 15 members voted unanimously to put a levy on the ballot, despite their concerns it may not pass.

“The Hayden budget is not sustainable,” said Nancy Jones, citizen task force spokeswoman. “(The citizen task force) was given the opportunity to review the Hayden city budget in great detail, and the simple fact is that there is no way for Hayden to support more law enforcement without an increase in the levy amount.”

The city council was able to increase the police contract to include supplemental hires in the upcoming fiscal year, but those are non-permanent funds.

That position will be unfunded by the budget end. The only legal way to make that change permanent is through a voter-approved override levy.

“You never have two deputies on in Hayden at any time,” said Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris. “I’m compromising law enforcement in other areas of this county to abide by a contract that I inherited. I am telling you as the sheriff of this county that I want to be your police department, but I can't compromise police officers all the time for deputy sheriffs coming into this city.”

Because there are never two officers on staff at any time in Hayden, officers have to wait for available backup from other areas in the county.

“County residents are subsidizing the cost of the Hayden officers,” Sifford said. “So we’re buying guys in from Worley and Bayview. We’re straining the county resources.”

Crime rates have remained relatively stagnant in Hayden, according to data reviewed by the task force.

Norris believes crime rates are steady because his staff is unable to keep up with crime increases. Hayden deputies can make a finite amount of arrests, and he believes crimes are being missed.

“Calls for service in Hayden are up 60% over the last 10 years and yet the amount of follow ups and arrests are down,” Jones said. “From that we can see a lack of accountability that comes from not having enough officers.”

Hayden has 0.22 officers per 1,000 citizens. Compared to neighboring cities: Rathdrum has 1.58, Coeur d’Alene has 1.74, Post falls has 1.26 and Spirit Lake has 2.7 officers per 1,000 people.

The sheriff’s office maintains that because crime rates are going down, and population is going up, there are disconnects between the statistics and reality.

“(Officers) don’t have time to do proactive work where you’re going to find your drugs,” Sifford said. “Community safety, officer safety and quicker response time are the priorities for having additional staff.”

An earlier version of this story stated the Hayden Police budget would increase to $2,384,862. If the Levy is passed, that total would be the city of Hayden's budget, including the levy.