Post Falls city councilors talk projects, challenges
Local elected officials in Post Falls share their thoughts on upcoming projects and challenges in the new year.
Comprehensive Review: The topic I am most excited to be a part of next year will be our Comprehensive Plan update. This document really defines how we will engage with growth and development. We are a busy little city, with lots going on all over. This document helps call out what we, as residents, value and are looking to see happen with the town. I am hopeful that throughout the process we will have even more resident engagement than normal so that the concerns and desires of current Post Falls residents can really be our guiding principles as we reevaluate what we want the future of our city to look like.
Water Reclamation Facility Project: I am thrilled to see the final completion of this large and long project. Having the new tertiary treatment components 100% finished and online will be great. Many people have been working extremely hard on the project, it really is quite the achievement.
Downtown Development: Last year we saw the opening of parts of the Millworx development with great additions like Kindred and Co. There is still a lot to look forward to on the east end of Fourth Street and some new projects starting up on the west end that promise to have a positive impact in the area next year as well.
Samantha Steigleder, Post Falls City Council
The biggest thing on our radar is our Comprehensive Plan update, the bulk of which will take place during 2025.
We're in the middle of the housing needs assessment and a fiscal impact analysis; two projects we have consultants working on. The results from these will provide the information we need to create our new Comprehensive Plan, which sets the expectation for future growth in the city. It's one of the most important documents we produce, and it's by far the best time for residents to have their voices heard.
Personally, I'm most excited about the strides we've made toward bringing back the starter homes that America used to build. Our new cottage and tiny home ordinances make building smaller homes legal, which has been a missing step for families stuck renting forever, unable to buy a 2,000-sqare-foot "forever home." Young families need the opportunity to build equity in something while having ownership that ties them into the community.
There's still work to be done here; we're re-evaluating our impact fees to see whether we can scale the impact fee by the size of the house or even the location in the city to both more accurately reflect the actual impact of growth and also enable more of the attainable starter homes that we so desperately need.
I can foresee financial struggles for cities across Idaho in the next couple years. In our state, property taxes don't automatically increase just because property values increase. Instead, we're limited to a 3% increase of our total tax levy. The issue is that inflation has been higher than 3%, so even if we take the maximum increase (which Post Falls hasn't been doing), the city's buying power is decreasing year-over-year in real terms.
Even if the Fed (federal government) gets inflation under control this coming year, the cumulative effects are already severe — the dollar has lost at least 1/3 of its buying power over the past 15 years according to the official numbers. I think it's worse than that. I expect we'll need a state tax reform bill to address this issue in the next few years.
Highway expansions are also looming. Aside from the I-90 widening project and new interchange at I-90 and Highway 41, the Idaho Transportation Department's PEL study is looking at different options for adding a new interstate right through the prairie. Most of the options require bulldozing homes. I'm personally concerned that these highway expansions will destroy what's left of our prairie and negatively impact the lifestyle that many of us moved here to find.
Randy Westlund, Post Falls City Council
Staff report
Samantha Steigleder
Westlund