COEUR d'ALENE - One owns the restaurants, resort and myriad other buildings containing thousands of employees.

The next two keep your air conditioner rumbling and appliances humming.

But that's not all Duane B. Hagadone and your electric and gas companies are up to.

They also pay the area's highest property taxes.

According to Kootenai County tax records, Hagadone is the No. 1 property taxpayer in Kootenai County. Utilities like Avista, Rathdrum Power and Gas Transmission Company also have some of the highest bills.

While this Top 10 list is impressive, it isn't necessarily comprehensive. Because several private property owners do business or own property under a number of names, their total property tax bill for 2010 might be greater than listed in this story.

But the heavyweight crown goes to Hagadone, who paid $2,316,791.40 in property taxes for the 2010 fiscal year, when all his Kootenai County property tax bills were combined.

Hagadone owns the newspaper you're reading right now. Chances are you've eaten in one of his local restaurants recently, too. Among his other local holdings are The Coeur d'Alene Resort and Resort Golf Course, a regional newspaper production facility, Blackwell Island, Lake Villa Apartments, The Terraces luxury condos and many others.

While he's the taxpaying champion, it's no surprise that utilities are right up there with him, said county Assessor Mike McDowell.

"Utilities have historically been at the top, just because of the amount of assets they have in the delivery of their particular service - whether it's a power company or railroad or telephone company," McDowell said.

All of a utility's assets, including power generating facilities, power lines and rights of way and more, are assessed by the state tax commission, he added.

"They look at a stock index approach. What's the value of this entire entity? How much of that is in Idaho? And Idaho gets a percent of the whole," he said. "Then what percent of that, based on line mile, is in Kootenai County? And we get our percent of that."

Other companies rack up dizzying property taxes primarily because of what is built on top on their properties, McDowell said.

"It's the improvements (that raise value)," he said. "What would the value of the location of The Coeur d'Alene Resort be, if the resort wasn't there?"

Avista is accustomed to being a star taxpayer, said spokesperson Jessie Wuerst.

"In most of the communities that we serve, we are the No. 1 or the No. 2 property taxpayers," Wuerst said. "When you think about the kinds of facilities a utility has, it makes a lot of sense."

The company's major assets in the county include the Post Falls hydro facility, a gas-fired power generator and 13 transmission stations, she pointed out.

There's also the major service building on 15th Street, and 3,500 miles of combine distribution and transmission lines, and 1,000 miles of natural gas distribution.

And the utility's property taxes aren't just based on its property or equipment, she added.

It's also based off an evaluation of the current value of the company's projected earnings and a stock analysis.

And Avista is doing pretty well in those areas.

"It's more than just the property we own," she said.

It's a similar breakdown for Rathdrum Power, which owns 106 acres in Kootenai County.

The main use for the property is hosting the combined cycle power plant that uses jet engine and steam turbine technology to produce power.

"I would imagine," plant manager Gary Allard said of whether the immense facility boosts property values.

Gas Transmission Northwest Company's property in Kootenai County enjoys a high price tag more for what's underneath the land than on top of it, said spokesperson David Dodson.

The Houston-based company runs two parallel 42- and 36-inch pipelines through the county. The two lines have been ferrying gas from Canada to California since 1961.

The gas company is a top taxpayer in most of the counties the pipelines traverse, Dodson said.

"I think the reason is in a lot of the counties GTN traverses, they're quite rural, there's not an industrial base," he said. "When you have an asset like a pipeline, it does represent a higher value asset."

The level of taxes is always a concern, he added. But it's the cost of doing business.

"It's not a burden," he said. "We're part of the community, and we should be paying our share."

Kimball Furniture Group, Inc. has a mere 31.4 acres in Post Falls, said Michele Lemelin, director of operations.

But on it sits a 475,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

"That's probably what's driving it (property value)," Lemelin said with a chuckle.

The company, recruited to the area by Jobs Plus in the early '90s, uses the location to produce metal furniture, including filing cabinets, book cases and office cubicles.

"Anything that goes into an office that's made of metal," Lemelin said.

The company, part of a Kimball International, based in Jasper, Ind., doesn't have any immediate plans to improve the facility further and steepen its value, she said.

But it does plan on sticking around for awhile.

"As long as the sales people keep selling for us, we're pretty good," she said.

Verizon's property was recently purchased by Frontier.

Spokespeople for the latter company believe the property value made it on the high-roller list because of its equipment assets, which help provide phone and Internet service to the greater Coeur d'Alene area.

"These assets would be things like our cable infrastructure, buildings, poles, switching equipment," reported spokesperson Stephanie Beasly. "We have multiple buildings and a robust broadband network."

Stephen Meyer, No. 8 on the list, owns Parkwood Business Properties, a commercial real estate development and property management firm. The company has been developing commercial real estate across the county since 1975, constructing buildings like medical offices, retail, tech-flex and self storage, according to its website.

Meyer preferred not to comment on his property values, or discuss how much property he owns in the area.

Idaho Forest Group's property taxes stem from the 120 acres in Chilco, where the company's sawmill is located.

The mill receives logs from North Idaho and Eastern Washington and processes them into timber that is sold throughout the country and the world, said Alan Harper, resource manager.

"We process about 120 million feet of logs a year," he said, adding that the mill has about 300 employees. "It's probably the largest single producer of lumber in the state of Idaho."

The property value is boosted by the mill, Harper said, which is constantly undergoing upgrades. That includes a new log merchandising system installed last year.

"We are always upgrading and adding new equipment," he said. "It's just an ongoing thing to stay competitive in the lumber world. You have keep your mill modern."

The steep taxes are just a part of doing business, Harper acknowledged.

"But a part of doing business that makes doing business more difficult, no doubt," he said.

Top 10 Kootenai County

property taxpayers*

TaxpayerNet Taxes

1. Duane B. Hagadone $2,316,791

2. Avista Corporation $1,718,070

3. Rathdrum Power, LLC $1,490,357

4. Verizon Northwest, Inc. $882,298

5. Post Falls Retirement Real Estate $484,006

Investors, LLC

6. Gas Transmission Northwest Co. $437,168

7. Kimball International Market Inc., $406, 258

Kimball Furniture Group Inc.

8. Stephen F. Meyer, ETUX $315,889

9. Idaho Forest Group, LLC $315, 889

10. Discovery Coeur d'Alene Investors, LLC $277,954

* For 2010 tax year