Saving public input
JEFF SELLE/Staff writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 2 months AGO
COEUR d'ALENE - Idaho Representative Luke Malek, R-Coeur d'Alene, has teamed with two Nampa representatives in an effort to regulate how urban renewal money can be spent on certain public facilities.
"The premise behind it is, urban renewal is for economic development," Malek said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "If it is not going to pay itself back it is not economic development."
He is pursuing legislation, House Bill 427, that would require a public vote in order to use urban renewal money to fund more than 51 percent of a publicly owned building that costs more than $1 million.
In their statement of purpose, the legislators wrote: "When urban renewal funding is used to build single-purpose public buildings that are not taxable, the benefit to economic development is more attenuated."
"Because of the ability to work around a more traditional funding process for public buildings and the lack of direct return on public investment," they went on, "this legislation considers a structure for public approval of such projects."
The legislation specifically mentions city halls, public libraries and administrative offices, but also specifically exempts public parking structures and infrastructure projects.
"We wanted to make sure infrastructure was exempt," Malek said. "Infrastructure does promote growth and economic development."
Malek said the traditional method for funding public buildings is to ask voters for a tax increase to pay for such projects, and that method requires a 66 percent supermajority of voters to approve it.
"This came to light because of certain projects that are occurring in Nampa," Malek said, adding that city might not be intentionally trying to circumvent the public process, but by passing HB 427, the public would still have an opportunity to approve the expenditure.
"This legislation does not require a supermajority to approve the project," he said. "But it does preserve the public input."
Malek said the bill has been printed and awaits a hearing in the House Local Government Committee.
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