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SANDPOINT — City officials are seeking input on a proposed 1% local option tax and how the funds should be used.

A five-year local option tax which paid for improvements at War Memorial Field expired in December 2020. The city’s special revenue funds decreased by almost $1 million which reflects the end of the LOT, Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said at a city council meeting in July.

With the first phase complete, and the tax expired, the second phase of the project will be completed by grant funding, officials said.

There are many projects that could benefit from the 1% LOT sales tax. Mayor Shelby Rognstad pointed to the projects in the Park and Recreation master plan.

Such projects as a sports complex at Centennial and Travers parks. The city could add more tennis and pickleball courts, a skate park and field improvements, Rognstad said.

The survey would prioritize if the city should buy the 32 acres at the Baldfoot disc golf course, which has been allocated to the city’s wastewater utility department. At one point the treatment plant was going to move to the Baldy location, but after weighing the options, the city decided the current Lakeview plant location will still do, Rognstad said.

“To satisfy the ratepayers, I believe this is the most ethical choice,” he said. “The city could purchase the land and keep the disc golf course and use the land for trails and workforce housing. In future there could be other land acquisition opportunities for the continuation of Sandpoint.”

To those that may think that proposing a LOT is “tone deaf” during this time Rognstad disagreed.

“This past year we’ve faced critical issues of housing and health,” he said. “People feel displaced. Investment in open space let’s us get out and rejuvenate for free and keeps us happy and healthy and makes Sandpoint a great place to live.”

City officials in past council meetings voiced concerns of Sandpoint losing its resort city status once the city passes 10,000 in population. The 2020 census had Sandpoint listed just under 10,000 and so the city does not lose its resort city tax for hotel and motel rooms.

Losing the resort city status would cause Sandpoint to lose the funding mechanism for capital improvements and public safety needs that tourists create in the community, Stapleton said.

There were previous growing pains for business and the city to collect [LOT] funds, yet the project was projected and collected correctly, on time and budget and then sunsetted, Councilman Andy Groat said.

“I love people coming and enjoying our city, Groat said. “I’m fully prepared for a pay-to-play.”

Groat said he feels tourists should be taxed for the financial burdens that they put on Sandpoint and its residents — costs that residents should not have to bear.

“If you want to come into the house and wipe your feet on the carpet, you don’t have to pay for the carpet, but I’m going to charge you to clean it,” said Groat.

On Sept. 8, the council will consider language for the new LOT to be placed on the November ballot. They want input from the public on what projects the LOT funds should support.

The survey is live and will only be open for seven to 10 more days. Residents who wish to voice their opinions should fill out the survey before it closes, Rognstad said.

Use the Engage Sandpoint app or the link bit.ly/3mMIf9F to fill out the survey.