COEUR d’ALENE — Idaho’s Interim Committee on Urban Renewal met again on Monday to continue its analysis of urban renewal laws in Idaho.

Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene; and Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene, are members of the special committee that will propose changes to the laws that were originally written in the 1960s.

“Looking at the agenda, I really didn’t have very high hopes for the meeting," Souza said, but added she was pleasantly surprised by some of the conversations that came from the meeting.

Lawmakers met from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to discuss everything from best practices to accountability for urban renewal districts.

“I think everyone on the committee feels there is room for some change in the laws,” Souza said. “While nothing is certain yet, I think it is just a matter of to what extent we change it.”

Souza said Denny Davis, chairman of ignite cda, testified to the committee and outlined what the agency has done for urban renewal in Coeur d’Alene.

“He did OK,” Souza said. “But he pretty much just read from a script of what was accomplished.”

However, Souza said, all of the testimony prompted some very interesting discussions.

After hearing testimony from the urban renewal district in Caldwell, the committee discussed the possibility of separating urban renewal from other economic development activities.

She said urban renewal money is currently being spent in Caldwell to reimburse private companies for creating jobs.

“They were assured by their attorney that it was OK to do that,” she said, adding that testimony caused a few of the committee members to roll their eyes a bit.

Souza said urban renewal dollars should only be spent on public infrastructure that the taxpayers own.

She said there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding what urban renewal agencies can legally spend tax dollars on. Overall, Souza said, most of the 55 urban renewal agencies in Idaho just want certainty.

“One of the last things Denny Davis said at our town hall meeting last week was ‘We want the Legislature to tell us what we can and cannot do,'” she said. “The speaker from Caldwell said 'we just clearly want to know what we can do.'”

Souza said there was some discussion of possibly creating alternative economic development tools, so urban renewal dollars can be focused on redeveloping blighted areas.

She said legislators discussed the possibility of reviving the local option sales tax and removing the 66-and-a-third supermajority vote required to pass a general obligation bond.

“I am not against some other economic development tools, as long as they structured the right way,” she said.

Souza said the committee will meet at least two more times — once in October and again in November.

“If we need to meet one more time, we might do that at the end of November or early December before the holidays,” she said, adding the co-chairs of the committee are going to try and set up videoconferencing from four remote locations in Idaho, so people can testify without having to travel to Boise.

Souza said the chairs have also agreed to let her submit the testimony she gathered with Sims at the town hall meeting last week into the committee record so it could be considered if the committee makes recommendations.