COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to approve a recommendation to impose impact fees supporting the county’s fire districts and emergency medical services.

Commissioner Bill Brooks called the proposal a “no brainer.”

“This is one of those things we all know we need,” he said.

Commissioners also approved capital improvement plans by county fire districts and Kootenai County EMS for the purpose of adoption and collection of impact fees.

Impact fees are collected during the construction process, usually from developers, to help minimize the strain placed on services by the new construction.

The impact fee plan is based on projections that Kootenai County will grow by more than 50,000 residents within the next decade. The need for fire and EMS services is expected to grow between 30% and 70% in different districts over that period.

Fire districts and Kootenai County EMS determined what capital items, facilities and equipment will be needed to maintain the current level of service based on those growth projections.

Combined, the agencies anticipate spending around $83 million over the next 10 years to provide the current level of service. Half of those costs will be necessitated by growth.

The average fire district fee would be $2,077 per residential unit or $1.06 per non-residential square foot, broken down as follows:

• Eastside: $1,800 per residential unit or 90 cents per non-residential square foot
• Hauser Lake: $3,666 per residential unit or $1.83 cents per non-residential square foot
• Kootenai County Fire and Rescue: $1,207 per residential unit or 60 cents cents per non-residential square foot
• Mica Kidd Island: $1,994 per residential unit or $1 per non-residential square foot
• Northern Lakes: $1,302 per residential unit or 65 cents per non-residential square foot
• Spirit Lake: $1,725 per residential unit or 98 cents per non-residential square foot
• Timberlake: $2,842 per residential unit or $1.42 per non-residential square foot
• Kootenai County EMS: $132 per residential unit or 7 cents per non-residential square foot

Because fire districts do not have ordinance authority and cannot collect impact fees, the cities and counties they serve must collect for them.

All cities within the county have reportedly agreed to collect the impact fees except for Athol. The Athol City Council is expected to have a hearing on the subject in the near future.

Commissioner Leslie Duncan said she was glad to vote in favor of the impact fees.

“I’m very excited to help them continue to provide this level of service going forward,” she said.