2009 Legislative Agenda
Local Option
Taxation Authority
Lake Management Plan
Funding
Increased Transportation Funding
Support for Education
Remedy for Ordinary & Necessary
Support for
Urban Renewal Agencies
To download a complete copy of the
2009 Legislative Agenda, click
HERE
Position:
The Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce supports the passage
of legislation that would allow cities and/or counties to
establish local sales taxes under the following provisions:
§
Requires approval by voters
in the jurisdiction proposing the tax;
§
Election takes place on
established May or November election dates;
§
Includes a “sunset” date;
§
Dedicates proceeds to capital
improvement projects and/or property tax reduction as
defined in the ballot measure and not to the general fund of
the county;
§
Is limited to a total amount
of 1% per taxing entity;
Position:
Idaho
communities face the increasingly difficult task of raising
funds for needed capital projects.
At present, the only option available to elected
officials is to increase local property taxes to raise these
funds. This
approach is not acceptable to most property tax payers and
as a result valuable community projects are not undertaken.
However, as
Kootenai
County citizens discovered
with the resort county sales tax, a local option sales tax
that is tied to property tax reductions is a much better way
to raise funds.
This is consistent with our Policy Statement that our
chamber supports “a system of government taxation that is
consistent, predictable, and equitable, and that ensures
that the basic needs of the governed are served.”
Therefore, we fully support efforts to
enable a local option sales tax.
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Position: The Coeur d’Alene
Chamber of Commerce supports the Coeur d’Alene Lake
Management Plan drafted by the Department of Environmental
Quality and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. The Chamber further
supports a reasonable allocation of funding to implement
this plan.
Rationale: Lake Coeur
d’Alene is the defining feature of our community and its
continued health and quality are critical not only to our
local economy but also to the quality of life that all who
live here enjoy. Thus, the Chamber has long supported
efforts to ensure the quality of our Lake.
However, there are a number of specific reasons the Chamber
has taken this position on this Plan. They are:
1. The Chamber, as an active member of CLEAN, supported the
EPA’s Record of Decision (ROD) on the Bunker Hill 3
Superfund site that excluded Coeur d’Alene Lake from
Superfund remediation provided that a lake management plan
was created and implemented. Thus the creation and
implementation of this plan is a key component of efforts to
remove the Superfund stigma from our Lake and a necessary
requirement for EPA to officially preclude Superfund
designation.
2. The Plan itself is rational and balanced. It does not
call for any new rules or regulations regarding the Lake and
activities around it. Rather, it calls for the continued
collection of scientific data to monitor the quality of the
water, an assessment and prioritization of the greatest
threats, and implementation of specific projects that might
mitigate those threats.
3. The Plan also recognizes the importance of reaching out
to and coordinating efforts with the various local, state,
federal, and tribal entities and agencies that have
jurisdiction over lands or activities the impact Lake water
quality. Only with an aggressive effort to educate and
inform all these parties will the Plan receive the support
and recognition from these groups that is essential to its
success.
4. Finally, the Plan envisions an educational center that
will inform the general public of Lake water quality issues
and what individuals can do to preserve this outstanding
resource.
The Chamber applauds the State and the Tribe for completing
this Plan and thanks the EPA for its supportive role in the
process. We believe that this Plan is important for our
community and support it and its funding.
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Position: The Coeur d’Alene
Chamber of Commerce recognizes a significant need to expand
and improve the state’s road infrastructure network. To
accomplish this, the Chamber proposes two methods to address
this persistent need:
1.) Addressing the current annual budget shortfall
through a combination of funding source increases, including
registration fees, rental car fees, and sales tax on fuel at
the distributor level.
2.) Continued support of the GARVEE program.
Rationale: Idaho is a large
state with a small population that must pick up the tab on
an expansive system of highways that bring connectivity to
our communities. Keeping up with road and bridge maintenance
and constructing/reconstructing new roads and bridges is a
gigantic task especially under ever escalating construction
costs and a finite budget insufficient in providing for the
current needs of the state.
In order for the state to stay on track with its road
construction and maintenance priorities efforts to make up
for the annual projected shortfall of $245 million must be
taken up immediately. Through statewide meetings the ITD
board developed a list of potential funding sources
including an increase in registration and rental car fees, a
sales tax at the distributor level for fuel, and eliminating
the ethanol tax credit among other options.
Though no legislation is currently proposed detailing
specific courses of action, the Chamber supports the effort
to address the road infrastructure needs in our state as
long as the remediation does not unduly impact business and
industry. Any proposal should only be considered after
thorough analysis, weighing revenue predictions with
potential negative impacts on the economy.
Additionally, the initiation of GARVEE bonding to put
high priority and often very expensive projects on a fast
track using bonds paid for with federal dollars is a better
way to deal with needs bigger than annual dollars can cover.
The Chamber supports using GARVEE and recognizes that
authority for this process must remain with the ITD Board
and ITD professionals in order to minimize the political
nature of choosing projects and disbursement of funds.
It is through these two courses of action, bridging the
budget shortfall, and GARVEE funding that the transportation
infrastructure needs our businesses are relying on can
overcome the challenges posed by our growth currently being
experienced by our state.
Support for Education
Position: The Chamber reiterates
its long-standing support for both K-12 and higher education
so as to ensure the workforce needs of businesses in our
state are met.
Rationale: All levels of
education are of great value to the
Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce. We
deeply value the importance of quality education both to the
quality of life in our community and for providing skills
needed by member businesses in their future employees.
We recognize that we are entering a difficult budget year.
However, we firmly believe that K-12 education must be kept
whole. Specifically, we support funding that at least
maintains current budgets after allowing for state mandated
increases. Even in challenging economic times, we must
invest in our children, our future.
We also believe that we must continue to invest in
professional technical education. Manufacturing remains the
backbone of our rapidly growing and diversifying local
economy. The demand for a skilled labor force for this
sector and others will remain high and we must have the
ability to offer the trainings the will provide those
skills. Therefore, we support funding for the various
program expansions being proposed by North Idaho College.
A final component to the Chamber’s focus on Education is the
need for greater emphasis on educational attainment due to
its role in economic development. Currently, Idaho ranks
46th in the Nation in the number of college graduates. In
North Idaho only 17% of adults have at least a college
degree compared to 29% at the national level.
We are, however, well positioned to address this challenge.
North Idaho College offers low cost opportunities for
students to begin their academic careers and, thanks to the
great collaboration with the University of Idaho, Lewis
Clark State College, Idaho State University, and now Boise
State those careers can be completed to graduation here in
Coeur d’Alene. The Education Corridor that is being
developed will only further the efficiency and cost
effectiveness of these joint efforts. We will continue to
advocate that adequate funds be provided so that all forms
of secondary education opportunities are able to meet the
diverse demands of Idaho’s businesses, ensuring a strong
vibrant economy into the future.
Finally, we fully support Dual Enrollment programs as a
great way to boost educational attainment by giving high
schools students a head start on their college classes. We
support funding in this year’s budget to help students
defray the costs of enrollment in these programs.
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Remedy for
Ordinary and Necessary
Position:
The Chamber supports a State
Constitutional Amendment or other legislative action that
would restore to local jurisdictions their “pre-Frazier
decision” ability to undertake projects or make purchases
that will be funded over multiple years without a vote of
the people when such projects or purchases are financed by
existing property tax revenues or non tax fees.
Rationale:
The recent Idaho State Supreme Court
ruling in Frazier vs. City of Boise denying the ability of
the city to build an airport parking garage without prior
voter approval has created a legal precedent that will
greatly hinder cities, counties, hospitals and other local
jurisdictions across the state. In the ruling, the Court
determined that under the State Constitution cities and
counties can’t go into debt without a vote except for
“ordinary and necessary” expenses incurred in that year.
The ruling creates numerous issues from limiting the ability
of public hospitals to expand facilities and services
without voters approving capital bonds, to local government
being able to pursue long-term contracts with service
providers. Abiding by this ruling will hinder prudent
financial investment and planning by municipalities, thus
stifling infrastructure development, provision of services,
and economic development. In light of the stymieing effect
of this court ruling, the Chamber advocates for a State
Constitutional Amendment or other legislative action that
would restore to local jurisdictions their “pre-Frazier
decision” ability to undertake projects or make purchases
that will be funded over multiple years without of vote of
the people when such projects or purchases are financed by
existing property tax revenues or non tax fees.
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Support
Urban Renewal Agencies
Position: The Coeur d’Alene
Chamber of Commerce supports the work of Urban Renewal
Agencies in the state as an effective economic development
tool. The Chamber will examine any future legislation to
ensure that only reasonable legislation or that which
enhances this tool are implemented. Conversely we will
continue to advocate against any changes that would
dismantle or unduly constrain URA’s effectiveness.
Rationale: During the 2007
Legislative Session a number of pieces of legislation were
introduced that would have negatively altered Urban Renewal
Agencies throughout the state. Among this legislation were
bills that would have limited the ability of URA’s to modify
and adjust plans. This would have been detrimental to the
use of this economic development tool for the fact that any
number of changing conditions over the course of the
statutory lifespan of a URA can arise. With numerous
multi-million dollar projects in the works and a litany of
potential changes in economy, real estate, and demographics,
the ability of URA’s to serve the communities in which they
operate would be greatly diminished if prevented from
adjusting their urban renewal plans.
Additionally, legislation was introduced that would have
altered the governance structure of URA’s. Planning
undertaken by URA’s has been statutorily given to an
appointed board of commissioners; the Chamber believes this
should remain true.
We therefore oppose any effort to transfer governance
from this appointed board of commissioners to that of an
elected board from throughout the county in which the URA
exists. Historically elected boards have governed over
taxing authorities; URA’s have no such taxing authority.
Additionally, the boundaries of an Urban Renewal District
are confined to a specified district within the whole of a
county. We believe it is an unfair precedent to set in
statute authorization for those outside the URA to be
represented on the board of commissioners.
We do however recognize a need for some improvements.
Unintentionally, funds from special levies are captured in
part by URA’s which in turn creates a slightly increased tax
burden for citizens. We support legislation that would
remedy this error in the current legislation.
We will continue to monitor any additional legislation as
it pertains to Urban Renewal Agencies and respond as
warranted.
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