Coeur d'Alene councilors like bond survey results

Coeur d’Alene City Councilor Christie Wood liked what she heard about the results of a survey to gauge community response to a general obligation bond to support the fire department. 

“It’s really pleasing for us to hear that the community appreciates the fire department as much as we do,” she said Tuesday. 

Same for Councilor Dan English. Although he won’t be at the March 4 meeting when the council is expected to set a bond amount to send to voters in May, English made clear he supports it. 

“Just for the record, I would be voting yes,” he said. 

The department is proposing a $16.4 million, 10-year bond to pay for new fire trucks, command vehicles and other rigs to replace an aging fleet, and to update and expand several stations and perhaps build a replacement.  

Taxpayers will foot the bill. 

A home with a taxable value of $426,612 after the $125,000 homeowners’ exemption would have a projected cost of $68.86 a year, or $5.74 a month, according to figures presented to the City Council.

Mayor Woody McEvers said he considered that a bargain, far better than the 60 cents an egg he’s paying at his Rustler’s Roost restaurant in Hayden. He compared it to buying two gallons of gasoline or a cup of coffee. 

“It seems like it’s a good value,” McEvers said. 

The survey conducted by Portman Square Group between Jan. 16 and Feb. 6 found strong support for the bond. Of the 1,637 responses to the text-based survey, 1,062 were completed and 575 were partially completed. 

Nearly 80% said they would support a bond measure to pay for remodeling a fire station, improving others and replacing aging fire trucks.  

About 70% said an annual tax impact of $17 per $100,000 of property value was “acceptable” for an investment in EMS and fire services. 

More than 80% gave the fire department a “positive” or “very positive” grade and more than 90% said it was important to maintain and improve fire services.  

That’s all because people know “the fire department has done a good job managing its budget and can be trusted” as good stewards of tax dollars, said Amy Holly with Portman Square Group.  

She said the results provide “a very comfortable assessment of what the community thinks.” 

About 15,000 surveys were delivered to “reliable city voters.” Ninety-nine percent of respondents were registered voters. Forty-four percent were age 65 or older, 70% have lived in Coeur d’Alene for more than 10 years and 47% were Republicans. 

The 10-year, 2015 GOB that received 85% voter approval to fund capital expenditures for the police and fire departments was $6 million. This one is higher due to rising costs and inflation.

It was also pointed out that the current 10-year bond ends in August, the actual increase to a homeowner for the new bond would be about $31 a year.

The next step once a bond amount is set would be a public information campaign. 

If the bond is approved by 66 2/3 of voters, English said, they should be sure to do a first-rate job on the rebuild of Station 2. 

“We want to do it right,” he said. 

    Wood