SANDPOINT — The city released a survey Wednesday, allowing residents to give input on where they would like to see funds from a potential 1% local option tax spent. 

Getting a local option tax on the ballot is one of Mayor Jeremy Grimm’s priorities for this year and was delayed to the fall election by the City Council in February. In voting to delay the measure, councilors expressed concern about the lack of data around what residents wanted from a LOT, saying they wanted ballot language to include specific projects. 

In Wednesday’s announcement, Grimm spoke on the need for further funding for infrastructure maintenance and improvements. Among them, the Sandpoint mayor said the city’s transportation master plan identifies more than $100 million in needed improvements to just sidewalks and streets in the next 20 years, and the city’s current funding limits its ability to address the issues. 

“The survey is not simply asking whether residents support or oppose a local option sales tax,” Grimm said in the announcement. “It asks residents to evaluate the condition of our streets and sidewalks, identify transportation and community priorities, rank potential projects and share their views regarding accountability, project selection, funding duration and other important issues.” 

Sandpoint had a LOT on the November 2024 ballot, which failed to reach the necessary 60% supermajority. One of the reasons behind the council’s delay was to avoid another vague ballot measure, citing the 2015 LOT for War Memorial Field Park, which they said passed in part due to its specificity. 

Grimm said the council will continue its discussion of a local option tax and has not decided whether or not to run one at all in November. 

Included in the survey are potential additional uses for the LOT, outside street and sidewalk improvements. Residents are also asked about their willingness to support several other uses, including an affordable housing program, new park projects and public safety investments. 

Cities can only run LOTs when their population is under 10,000 on the latest census, according to Idaho Code. Grimm has said this only gives Sandpoint until 2030, when the next national census takes place, to adopt one.  

The 2020 census had Sandpoint at a population of 9,637, just under the 10,000 figure. The most recent census estimates from the United States Census Bureau have the city’s population well over the 10,000 threshold at around 10,645. 

If adopted, the LOT would stay in place for the entirety of its term, regardless of the city’s population.  

Those interested in providing input can access the survey at menti.com/also4zq3ed1d. Grimm said the survey will remain open until July, giving residents around a month to submit their opinions.