As the budget season reaches full swing it is downright frightening how local officials are conditioning folks for tax and budget hikes. It is also a bit frightening how glibly the legacy media offers reports like this one from the Idaho Press and Idaho Statesman regarding the proposed new Boise Library:
“On top of the city funding, the project is proposed to be funded with donations, debt and urban renewal revenue.”
To his credit, the Statesman’s Sven Berg noted the available parking spaces will be reduced from about 100 to 50 after the expansion. Team Dave eliminated any chance of expansion when they leased the city-owned warehouse space behind d the library to a tech company making chips to track migrating fish.
Any debt in excess of a single year’s revenues has to be approved by two-thirds of the voters. Logically that approval should come BEFORE city councilors approve the $85 million project. They also have had no appropriation from the CCDC urban renewal agency. The GUARDIAN finds it a questionable practice to spend hundreds of thousands for design on such a vague funding formula.
The same vagueness has been used for the proposed ball park on Americana near the Boise River. In that scheme they often cite the Greater Boise Auditorium District as a source of funds along with annual budget appropriations from Boise City. GBAD has not even considered any spending and annual city funding would be non-binding and very risky. Boise State also just announced plans to build a baseball field on campus after a previously floated joint use dream evaporated.
Other recent attempts to get their hands in our pockets come from ACHD which wants to increase vehicle registrations for autos, but NOT go after the trucks that tear up our streets. Anything over 8,000 lbs is exempt. They are bound by a state law which applies only to ACHD and was lobbied on behalf of ACHD.
The Ada Sheriff wants more staff for the jail. The jail is big business on behalf of the feds and State Dept. of Corrections. The previous jail expansion, funded in part with a federal grant, needs to be staffed. Boise is looking for more coppers, and fees for everything from water to trash are set for increases.
AND … it can mostly be chalked up to this “fabulous growth” that is encouraged by state and local “economic development and tax incentive” efforts. The median price for a house in San Francisco’s Bay area is right at $1 million and in Ada it is just over $300,000. Those techie folks (from Cali and Seattle) are cashing in their equity and moving to Idaho in droves where they can buy three homes and have leftover cash. All we have to do is pay their way.