North valley residents contributed significantly to the defeat of a property tax levy to support emergency dispatcher services. But the measure wasn't popular anywhere: Just 47 percent of Blaine County voters supported the override of county property tax rates.
"It's pretty apparent based on the vote that people don't think property value is the right way to fund this," said Sun Valley City Councilman Nils Ribi.
Called Proposition 2, the ballot initiative would have raised an additional $835,000 per year to fund operational expenses of the consolidated 911 dispatch communications center, which is managed by the Blaine County Commission. To win, the measure needed approval of two-thirds of the vote.
For county homeowners, the levy override would added an extra $29.25 in property taxes per year.
Most striking is the low level of support the measure received in Hailey and Bellevue. Before the vote, some had argued that residents from the south valley would gain from the initiative's passage and would thus support it.
Not so fast, those voters seem to have said.
In Hailey's four voting precincts, support for the measure ranged from a low of 46.87 percent to a high of 49.9 percent, which was the highest level of support the dispatch override received anywhere in the county.
In Bellevue, only 49 percent of voters voted for it. Even farther south at the Gannett-Picabo precinct in the Bellevue Triangle, just 33 percent of voters said "Yes."
County voters didn't harbor blanket opposition to property taxes. A temporary override to property tax rates to fund open-space preservation passed with the support of 53.49 percent of voters.
On Thursday, leaders from the county and the cities of Hailey and Sun Valley gathered to discuss the next steps in light of the levy's resounding rejection.
The failed levy was the possible solution to an impasse that came to the fore when officials from Hailey said they couldn't help pay for dispatcher salaries at the new center. Bellevue followed suit soon after.
Both cities eventually agreed to hand over a small percentage of the amount requested to provide for the 2009 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. They did so after the county agreed to put the levy override on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Hailey was asked to provide about $250,000 annually, while Bellevue was asked to give $67,000. They each are providing about a quarter of those amounts.
All along, officials have been eyeing mediation as a means to resolve the impasse.
The Idaho Emergency Communications Commission is planning to hear the mediation on Dec. 11. Officials from the county and at least two cities seem to want to resolve the impasse before resorting to those talks. The mediation was asked for by the city of Sun Valley.
A similar dispatch funding disagreement landed the cities of Kimberly and Buhl in mediation with Twin Falls County after they refused to provide funds to help pay for dispatcher salaries. In the end, Kimberly and Buhl agreed to help fund the salaries.
To avoid mediation, county leaders hope to bring together officials from every jurisdiction for a meeting in the coming weeks. A tentative date has been set for Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m., Blaine County Commissioner Angenie McCleary said.
The looming threat: that one of the cities might engage in litigation to settle the matter. So far, all sides seem to want to avoid litigation. The two sides are required to enter into talks before they can file a lawsuit.
Blaine County Commissioner Larry Schoen seemed convinced that all sides can find a solution to the stalemate by meeting before the mediation.
Hailey City Administrator Heather Dawson echoed the support for direct talks.
"It doesn't seem the parties are ready for mediation," she said.
