Post Falls approves $148.4 million budget

POST FALLS — The city of Post Falls has approved its budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Post Falls City Council members unanimously voted in favor of the $148,435,141 budget during a regular meeting Tuesday evening. This is about $4.8 million less than the previous fiscal year's $153,193,332 budget and nearly $49 million more than the 2021-22 budget of $99,678,119.

The newest budget includes a 30% annual wage increase of $8,900 for Mayor Ron Jacobson and a 20% annual increase of $2,500 for council members at the recommendation of Jason Faulkner, the city's finance and support services director. The increases will cost $25,000 per year.

It’s been four years since the mayor and council received wage increases, and 12 years prior to that.

“Four years is a reasonable amount of time to revisit it, as opposed to 12 years and then going, ‘Oh my gosh, we need to catch up,’” Council President Kerri Thoreson said during an Aug. 1 budget workshop.

Councilman Joe Malloy recalled the last wage increase was 10% for council members and 22% for the mayor.

"But 22% of nothing isn't very much," he said.

The city's parks, recreation and cemetery funds are in for increases. Last year the parks budget was $3,331,431 and will jump to $4,138,924; cemetery funds will go from $334,646 to $365,896; and recreation will increase from $1,100,482 to $1,204,538.

Post Falls Parks and Recreation Director Dave Fair said during the Aug. 1 workshop the cemetery department is the busiest it has ever been.

"We used to do two services a week," he said. "That’s gone way up. Last week they had a service every day.”

Fair's team is continuing to work on Black Bay Park as well as the Chinese mystery snail infestation in the pond at Falls Park.

"They’re winning right now, by the way,” Fair said.

“So should we have a citywide escargot feed or something?” Malloy jokingly asked.

Fiscal year 2024 expenses include a nearly $2.2 million increase for streets, a lobbyist for $45,000, a nearly $215,000 increase for urban forestry and a significant decrease for capital improvements, from $13.8 million to $1.3 million.

The legal team has also requested one additional legal assistant as Post Falls has been experiencing an uptick in legal cases.

"Last year in Post Falls you had around 730 cases total," Legal Services Director Warren Wilson said. "We're anticipating by year’s end this year we're going to be about 1,200.”

He said Post Falls' prosecution crew works more cases than its cohorts in the county and Coeur d’Alene, with fewer resources.

“We would like to have a little bit more support for the civil side of the house,” Wilson said.

The Post Falls Public Works Department will receive slight increases across the board, except in one department. Streets' operating budget will go from $3.39 million to $3.57, with priorities to purchase new snow equipment and two new personnel; facilities will increase from $.034 million to $.038 million; fleet funding will go from $.70 million to $.80 million; and water reclamation will increase from $8.02 million to $8.05 million. The water department will decrease from $3.16 million to $2.74 million.

Taxes are based on assessment and the other taxing jurisdictions within the city of Post Falls, such as Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, schools, the Post Falls Highway District and others. Post Falls is benefiting from new construction, annexations and the increment from urban renewal district closures.

Jacobson asked Faulkner during the council meeting what this budget will do for levy rates. Faulkner responded that with the Post Falls urban renewal closure on the tax roll and new construction, the levy rate is expected to decrease.

"People should understand, the levy rate decreases, but the values of property continue to increase," Jacobson said. "That can relate to an increase in property tax."