PF celebrates closure of another urban renewal district

POST FALLS — Another urban renewal district has successfully closed in Post Falls.

The Post Falls Urban Renewal Commission closed the East Post Falls Urban Renewal District, which opened in 2002 and spanned 469 acres around Highway 41 and Interstate 90.

This closure created a surplus fund balance of nearly $1.5 million that will be distributed back to taxing authorities within the district. Recipients are the city of Post Falls, Kootenai County, the Post Falls Highway District, the Post Falls School District, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, the Community Library Network, North Idaho College and Kootenai County Emergency Medical Services.

"It does not cost taxpayers because these are increment tax funds from the 2022 tax funds that are already paid," Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency Executive Director Joe Johns said. "This is nothing extra to the taxpayers; this is just from the increment portion of the value on the property. If it hadn't been earmarked for urban renewal, it would have still been on their tax bills and it would have gone directly to the taxing districts."

Johns said this district's value was $62 million when it opened.

"Twenty years later, as a result of the urban renewal projects and the construction jobs and market increases, the value in that area is now $690 million," he said. "It’s substantial."

In 2009, a surplus increment revenue rebate marked a monumental first for Idaho, returning $2.2 million to the taxing districts, the Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency shared in a news release. In 2012, an additional $3.3 million in rebates was distributed.

"As the curtain gracefully descends on this chapter, the $622.8 million surge in value reinvigorates the coffers of the underlying tax districts," the release said. "This soaring valuation broadens the community's tax base, ensuring a symphony of fresh annual taxing district revenues and increasing each taxing district's opportunity to reduce levy rates."

Post Falls' share of the rebate funds is $619,890. Post Falls City Administrator Shelly Enderud said it is the recommendation of city staff to accept the funds and apply them to the city's facility fund for the public works department's new site and police department expansion.

"These are both services that supported the district as it grew," she said.

Enderud said the city has accepted funds from all prior closures and used them for a variety of projects and capital items.

"One of the first rebates went to capital requests that could not be met during the regular budget cycle," she said, adding that the city worked to keep the funds in the district.

NIC will receive $112,141.23.

"In the past, if we have gotten an urban renewal district refund like this, we consider it one-time money, like a windfall concept,” NIC's Vice President of Finance Sarah Garcia said. "We can't spend it on day-to-day expenses. We set it aside for one-time purchases in the future. We bank it for a one-time project, which is typically construction or equipment."

The crowning achievement of the East Post Falls Urban Renewal District was the $15.4 million Greensferry I-90 Overpass project, which was unveiled Nov. 12, 2015 after years of meticulous planning and construction.

"This isn't just a standalone success," the Post Falls Urban Renewal Commission said in the news release. "It's a part of an ensemble of achievements. The overpass debt, once a weight, was proudly settled in November 2021 – two years ahead of schedule, saving $51,000 in interest costs."

The East Post Falls Urban Renewal District is the seventh urban renewal district completed and closed by the Post Falls Urban Renewal Commission. All seven districts have attracted new employers, improved commercial and industrial diversification within Post Falls, created new jobs and expanded and improved the level of public water, sewer and transportation services available within the community.