Kootenai County will weigh jail impact fees

COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County residents may soon have an opportunity to weigh in on proposed impact fees to support the jail. 

Last year, the county hired Boise-based firm Galena Consulting to calculate impact fees for the jail, as well as for the sheriff’s office and county parks and waterways. Commissioners ultimately scrapped the latter plans, focusing instead on the jail. 

The county subsequently commissioned another study, this time by the firm TischlerBise. 

“It has gone up significantly from the original impact fee calculation, and we do need to have a public hearing on that,” Commissioner Bruce Mattare said Tuesday. 

But first, the Joint Development Impact Fee Advisory Committee must decide whether to approve the proposed fees. If the committee gives the green light Thursday afternoon, the county will plan a public hearing on the matter. 

The maximum supportable fees would be $1,353 per single family dwelling unit and $1,033 per multifamily dwelling unit, according to the new report. 

For nonresidential development, the fees would be $1,565 per 1,000 square feet of retail space, $603 per 1,000 square feet of office space, $599 per 1,000 square feet of institutional space and $271 per 1,000 square feet of industrial space. 

The previous study calculated fees of $551 per dwelling unit for residential units and 24 cents per square foot for nonresidential uses. 

Idaho law requires the county to implement the capital improvement plan methodology to calculate impact fees. The county can implement fees of any amount not to exceed the fees as calculated by that approach. 

To determine the funds needed to meet the demand of future growth, TischlerBise used the levels of service and cost factors for infrastructure components. Growth-related needs are a projection of the infrastructure and estimated costs needed to maintain current levels of service over the next decade, according to the report. 

The impact fees would fund a 10-year, $35 million capital improvement plan for the county jail. The plan accounts for adding two dormitory pods and administrative space at a cost of about $22 million, as well as adding 20,000 square feet of kitchen, medical and storage space at a cost of about $12 million.