Hayden approves property tax hike

Hayden’s City Council recently approved a 3% property tax increase in its fiscal year 2027 budget of $36.3 million.

The tax hike is expected to bring in $80,688, which will offset inflationary costs across the city’s vendors, including employee medical benefits.

Plans are in the works to improve Government Way intersections at Honeysuckle, Miles, Wyoming and Dakota.

“What we're doing basically is appropriating money out of (the city’s) savings account, putting it into the general fund and Capital Improvement Plan to take care of all this stuff,” Council Member Tom Shafer said. "We're running a financially efficient system here that isn't burdening the taxpayers.”

The city is also planning to improve the sewer system. Budget updates include completing the sewer collection rate study and capitalization plan, developing a new sewer master plan to replace the existing one, and completing piping improvements.

Hayden is also investing in new and existing parks. A new 18-acre park, Hayden Canyon, began development in September 2024 and will receive $1.19 million for phase two construction. Additional expenditures include $773,000 for a park property acquisition and $137,250 for a parks master plan update.

Despite the property tax increase, City Clerk Abbi Sanchez said that, with the current preliminary levy rates, a home with $500,000 of taxable value will see a reduction in city taxes. She said this is primarily because the county has added just under $92,000,000 of new construction value to the city’s overall taxable value. 

Pending final numbers from Kootenai County, Hayden residents can expect a tax rate of $72.76 per $100,000 assessed property value, down from $75.38 per $100,000 assessed the year before. 

The City Council also agreed to implement an AI policy for city employees. 

The policy would include AI training to protect against sharing private or personal information with AI, require disclosure when using AI to create, alter or generate content and stipulate that AI technology shall not be used to replace the knowledge, expertise, judgment and decision-making of city employees.

“You look around all the other cities and the woes they have, and the fact that we bring in less income than all of them, and yet are getting all this work done, our citizens are getting outstanding value,” Hayden’s Mayor Alan Davis said. “I think this is the best city that we have in the area.”

    Lorelle Cardenas speaks before the Hayden City Council on the fiscal year 2027 budget.