Property taxes, education, and Sempra Generation's proposed coal-fired power plant in Jerome County remain the top issues for Sen. Clint Stennet, D-Ketchum, and Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, as the 58th Idaho Legislature second session enters its fourth week.
On Sunday, Jaquet and Stennett—representatives of Idaho's 25th District, which includes Blaine, Camas, Gooding and Lincoln counties—spoke to an audience of about 40 local citizens during a "Pizza and Politics" forum at Rico's Pizza and Pasta in Ketchum.
The event was sponsored by the Blaine County Democratic Party. Donna Pence, D-Gooding, who also represents District 25, was unable to attend.
Property taxes too taxing
This week, the House is hearing public comment on more than 30 property tax bills.
Jaquet, who served on the Property Tax Interim Committee over the past year, said the hearings will be broken down by subject, including homeowner's exemption, developer discount, impact fees for schools, local option sales taxes for capital projects and workforce housing, and real estate transfer taxes.
Perhaps the most pressing issue involves the homeowner's exemption, which was set at $50,000 in 1983.
"The current exemption is simply outdated," Stennett wrote in his week-three column outlining legislative news. "We need to account for a cost-of-living increase to help homeowners keep up with paying their taxes without digging into their child's college fund."
Stennett and Jaquet both want to raise the homeowner's exemption to $100,000. They also want to allow schools to collect growth impact fees; raise the circuit-breaker payment for the elderly and disabled; and repeal the developers discount.
Over the past 30 years, residential taxes have increased 1,094 percent while the total non-residential taxes have increased 320 percent.
"The state needs to go back to the drawing board to examine how our laws can address this imbalance," Stennett wrote.
No decisions will be made on the bills during the public hearings.
Coal plant moratorium
Stennett opened the meeting by discussing the potential environmental impacts of Sempra's plant.
"This is something we have to protect," he said, referring to the local environment. Stennett said the plant could create a brown cloud over the area that would block sweeping views and spread an icy glaze over the valley's roads in the winter.
Sempra wants to build a $1.4 billion, 600-megawatt merchant plant nine miles northeast of Jerome to generate power to be sold on the open market, likely in California. In exchange, Jerome County would benefit from millions of dollars in tax revenue and up to 100 permanent jobs. Once air-quality and water permits are secured, final approval will come solely from the Jerome County commissioners, which concerns Stennett.
In response, Stennett has crafted five bills to fight the plant. For the third time he will attempt to create a siting committee, which would draw all governing bodies within 50 miles of a proposed plant into an approval process. Three other bills would allow for more civic feedback and influence, tax the plant like a public utility, and enforce stricter air-quality regulations.
But the most important bill, Stennett said, would involve a one-year moratorium on power plants in Idaho, which is the only state in the West that does not have a coal-fired power plant.
"It would be a time-out to write some new rules," he said, adding that technological advances could result in cleaner coal-plants within the next five years.
Education could be smarter
Funding for education is lacking and so is the state's effort to reach a solution—that's the general consensus from Stennett, Jaquet and Sen. Bert Marley, D-McCammon, who is running for state superintendent of public instruction.
On Jan. 9, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne proposed using $63 million of the state's $214 million budget surplus to give each Idahoan a $50 check to help pay utility bills.
Stennett and Jaquet immediately blasted the proposal and on Sunday reaffirmed that they would fight to see the money used more effectively, like for education.
"This is an incredible waste of money, and it doesn't have a lot of legs," said Marley, who attended Sunday's Pizza and Politics in Ketchum.
"If you were counting on that check, don't spend it," Jaquet added.
Among the plans to boost education in the state:
· Increase funding for math and science teaching so remedial universities and colleges do not have to teach remedial courses.
· Use revenue from state lottery for safe schools and programs and allow state-funded assistance for school buildings on a sliding-scale basis to aid poorer districts.
· Allow school districts to assess impact fees to cover the cost of growth and make growth pay for itself.
· Solve the problem of skyrocketing state tuition for colleges in Idaho, where the cost has increased 140 percent over the last 10 years. The national average is a 40 percent increase over that same period.
· Use some of the $214 million surplus to fix school buildings across the state. Many are in a state of disrepair.
· Create a community college system in the Treasure Valley.
Sunday's "Pizza and Politics" forum included discussion of topics by, from the left, Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, Sen. Bert Marley, D-McCammon, who is running for state superintendent of public instruction, and Dr. Marilyn Howard, current state superintendent of public instruction.
