COEUR d'ALENE - A highway district desperate for funding is facing yet another delay in creating local improvement districts worth more than half a million dollars.

East Side Highway District, required to have Kootenai County review the three LIDs it passed last year, has discovered that the audio recordings from its hearings are of such poor quality the county can't be supplied with reliable transcripts.

The only solution: Hold another hearing.

"We had never had a hearing like that before," said Jimmie Dorsey, highway district commissioner. "We learned a lot, and we have a better understanding of how to do that."

Bad acoustics in the district shop where the hearing was held are to blame, Dorsey said, which will be remedied by holding the next hearing at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library

(Residents who had submitted comments on the LIDs, which more than 600 district residents would pay into, won't have to comment again, he said. As soon as the April hearing is held, the transcript will be sent to the county for review.)

Creating the LIDs is crucial, Dorsey said, to match one-time federal funding for three road overlays in Coeur d'Alene and Harrison.

If the LIDs don't happen, "we'll go ahead and we'll do the projects," Dorsey promised, adding that he still plans to have project construction start this summer. "We'll have to take some severe cuts on projects we'll do without within the county. We'll have to make up the funding somewhere else."

The East Side commissioners approved the LIDs twice last year, first in September and then again in November after residents pleaded they reconsider.

Residents would have to pay into a $162,000 LID for an overlay on 2.2 miles of Sunnyside Road in Coeur d'Alene; a $159,000 LID for an overlay on 2.4 miles on Burma Road in Harrison; and a $248,000 LID for an overlay on 6 miles on O'Gara Road in Harrison.

Because more than 60 percent of resident owners in the LIDs protested in written comments, the measures were subject to county review.

The review process is frustrating, Dorsey said.

The district wants to avoid stepping through so many hoops ever again, in fact, and would like to see state law changed so district projects would never go before county review again.

East side officials proposed lobbying for such a change last November to the Idaho Association of Highway Districts, he said.

"There's an Idaho statute that's in conflict with that law, it says that highway district commissioners have the same authority as county commissioners," Dorsey, also a member of the IAHD board of directors. "No one reviews the county's LIDs."

Other members of the IAHD who knew of the issue could not be reached.

Lorna Casey-Kaiser, who has been rallying neighbors to protest the LIDs, said folks are pumped for the new hearing and plan to let their objections rain down.

"This time we are more organized. We do know what's going on," said Casey-Kaiser, who is also running for district commissioner in the upcoming May election.

If necessary, district residents are prepared to file legal action to prevent the LIDs, she said, adding that many say they can't afford the LID payments, which range up to thousands of dollars over several years.

"We're hoping not to have the additional legal expenses, but that might be the route that's our next thing," said Casey-Kaiser, who would have to contribute to the LID for Sunnyside Road.

She objects to the district wanting to change state law, she added.

"I believe the laws are written this way so there could not be abuse from highway district or other entities," she said.

The new hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on April 11 at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

The highway district, Dorsey said, is suffering a funding shortage because of escalating equipment costs and diminishing funds from the state.

Unpopular as the LIDs might be, he said, there are few other options.

"It's an unfortunate time. It's a tough time in the economy and we realize that, but we also realize that in the future, the federal government will be giving less and less money for infrastructure," Dorsey said. "That infrastructure really needs repair, and this is a good chance to get the majority paid for."