County budget calls for tax hike

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County's proposed $74.5 million budget for the next fiscal year calls for a 1.5 percent property tax increase.

The public hearing on the proposal will be held on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Meeting Room 1A/B of the County Administration Building, 451 Government Way.

Kootenai County Commission Chairman Marc Eberlein said one of the reasons for the property tax hike proposal is merit salary increases of up to 3 percent for most county employees.

Salaries compared to other area government agencies is a topic county leaders continue to wrestle with. He said he lobbied for merit hikes of up to 2 percent.

"It needs to be remembered that government serves the people; people don't serve the government," Eberlein said.

Kootenai County Commissioner Chris Fillios described the budget proposal as "practical to get the job done and practical to the taxpayer."

Eberlein said deciding on where salaries should be is a delicate balance. He believes the county's wages overall are behind in the area's public marketplace and that it's difficult to roll private sector information into the picture because that data is difficult to obtain.

Eberlein said $750,000 is planned in the budget to find answers on salary questions.

Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said his department is proposed to receive $620,000 for salary increases.

"They vary depending on where (the employees) work," Wolfinger said. “Our clerks, administrative support staff, control room operators in the jail, driver’s license examiners and mechanics are not in any matrix (for sworn personnel) and are part of the general county pay plan."

Wolfinger said commissioners made two steps in 2.5 years toward moving sworn personnel to be closer to the market.

"However, the steps have been relatively small and too far apart," he said. "It does not appear that the amount given this year will even help us keep pace with the changes that were implemented in March 2015. Even then, we were still behind the market level when we consider the agencies that we compete with for personnel. Nonetheless, something is better than nothing and we are thankful for what we are getting."

Reducing turnover, Wolfinger said, is the hope with the increases.

Detention deputies start at $19.29 per hour, while patrol deputies start at $20.29.

Eberlein said he didn't support multiple items that are in the proposed budget, including increasing the annual payment to the Jobs Plus economic development agency from $22,000 to $50,000, and a $137,000 mapping program for the Assessor's Office.

"I don't mind helping economic development, but that's a bit too much," he said.

While Eberlein believes more trimming of the budget could have been done, he supports it overall and it's still below the 3 percent property tax hike that's allowed under state law.

County Clerk Jim Brannon said the county was able to avoid insurance cost increases since it changed consultants.

Not including the additional jail staff to be hired for the jail expansion, four new full-time county positions are planned. Those include an accounting technician in district court, a driver's license examiner for the new Post Falls office, an airport operations specialist, and a bailiff. A half-time position in grants management is also planned.

"All of these are due to the increase in demand for services in the county," said Fillios, adding the county is growing about 3 percent annually.

The total amount budgeted for the new positions, including benefits, is $242,345.

No major equipment purchases are planned in the budget.

Brannon said about $4 million in capital project requests, including software upgrades, were trimmed from the original budget proposal.

"We can only implement so many software projects at a time," Brannon said.

The budget proposal does not include using any foregone taxes.

Brannon said one change implemented to save money was regarding open positions. The county has traditionally budgeted for such positions.

"So the taxpayers were paying for those positions even though they hadn't been filled," he said.

Instead, the money is now being placed into a separate wage pool, but residents are not being taxed for it as it sits unfilled.

"This makes sense for the taxpayers," Brannon said.

Brannon said balancing the budget was a challenge amid steep county growth and a demand on services.

"Nobody likes to see tax increases, but the budget seems fair," he said. "It's a tight budget year. We have to provide mandated services, but we didn't break the bank in this year's budget."