MY TURN: Join me on Dec. 5 to stop HURA’s expansion

On Nov. 7, I was elected to the Hayden City Council. One reason the citizens of Hayden chose me, was my strong sense that the Hayden Urban Renewal Agency (HURA) is no longer serving its statutory purpose, creates an unfair tax structure for Hayden citizens and Kootenai County in general, and appears to benefit a privileged few.

HURA’s district is about 720 acres today, which is just over 19% of the city’s land. Its unelected board is seeking to expand the district about 70 additional acres. I urge Hayden residents to fight this expansion by attending the HURA open house Dec. 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Hayden City Hall. Join me in telling the HURA board members that we’re against the expansion. 

Early next year, the Hayden City Council will likely vote on whether to expand HURA, based on public input received at the Dec. 5 HURA open house.

I believe many Hayden residents don’t know how HURA operates, so I’ll share some basics. HURA is enabled by the Idaho Urban Renewal Law, which authorizes cities to form a taxing district to remove urban blight, because: “… there exist in municipalities … areas … the existence of such … contributes … to the spread of disease and crime.” That sounds like HURA should be in the business of demolishing tax-abandoned, condemned buildings.

Once you understand how HURA is funded, you will see the taxing inequity. The tool is called Tax Increment Financing and works like this. Prior to any development, the assessment on a land parcel with HURA’s boundary is fixed in time (baselined). The property tax from that baseline goes to all of the taxing districts that provide services to Hayden. Thereafter, the additional revenue due to increased assessments (tax increment) goes to HURA to spend as they see fit.

What I next describe comes from County Treasurer’s office. Walmart is inside HURA’s district and is currently paying about $110,000 a year in property taxes. Because of Tax Increment Financing, $80,000 of that goes into HURA’s coffers, while the remaining $30,000 is divided among all the other taxing districts (city of Hayden, Kootenai EMS, Lakes Highway, Kootenai County, Northern Lakes Fire, etc.). In 2022, Hayden only received $874 in property taxes from Walmart due to this arrangement. It’s important to point out that Walmart is responsible for a large amount of public safety calls in Hayden, yet the burden of paying for sheriff’s deputies and EMS calls to Walmart falls on Hayden taxpayers who live outside HURA’s district boundaries.

Walmart is the most egregious example, but my research of the county tax rolls reveals that HURA skims off 55% to 75% of assessed property taxes within its district boundary. Multiplied by all the other real estate within the entire 720-acre HURA district, this arrangement siphoned away $858,507 in property taxes last year. Now there is nearly $6 million in HURA’s bank account.

I would agree that some of HURA’s expenditures meet the statute’s objective. For example, in 2014 HURA worked with the city to create the parking lot by Hayden City Hall, and last year HURA agreed to help fund the City Hall ADA upgrades. HURA has also helped acquire land to improve traffic flow at intersections. But there are many examples of HURA expenditures seeming to benefit specific businesses and connected individuals within the local property development and construction industry.

Here is one example. HURA has committed to spending $1.6 million on landscaping for Rock Enterprises, which is building a consignment furniture store with the help of Young Construction Group. Why should taxpayers underwrite landscaping for a private business to the tune of $1.6 million?

And one cannot avoid pointing out that the current HURA board represents a “who’s who” of people who make all or part of their livelihood from property development. One is a property developer and owner of Parkwood Properties. Another works for the construction company Verdis. Another is a commercial loan officer with STCU. HURA’s executive director is also a senior project manager at Welch Comer Engineers, which does a lot of business with Hayden. John Young — owner of Young Construction Group — was on the HURA board until it was revealed in December last year that he purchased land within the HURA district in violation of Idaho Code 50-2017. He claimed it was a mistake.

Hayden residents please ask yourselves: Are your tax dollars well-spent by HURA, or are they going to special interests? Because it is Hayden taxpayers outside the HURA district that need to cover the tax shortfall caused by HURA’s tax skimming. Decide for yourself if you want HURA’s district to be expanded and make your voice heard at the upcoming HURA open house Dec. 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Hayden City Hall.

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Tom Shafer is a Hayden resident who will begin his first term as a Hayden City Council member in January.