Urban renewal committee is set to present reform proposal

BOISE - Hoping to end years of debate and complaints about Idaho's urban renewal statutes, an interim panel is finalizing a reform bill to present to lawmakers for approval this session.

The Urban Renewal Interim Committee spent months investigating urban renewal practices in Idaho. It took comments from various stakeholders and reviewed how the tool is used to promote economic development or clean up blighted areas in different communities.

The resulting draft legislation proposes three main changes to the existing statutes:

First, it would give local governing bodies the option to designate urban renewal boards as elected positions. Board members are currently appointed. Regardless of whether they're elected or appointed, the draft legislation also requires board members to be residents of the county where the urban renewal agency is located or operates.

Second, it prohibits urban renewal districts from using tax increment revenues for public buildings like libraries, police or fire stations or city hall improvements, unless approved by a public vote. It also prohibits tax increment financing from being used for "community development" projects like golf courses or parks without a public vote. The committee is still discussing whether a supermajority or simple majority vote would be needed; most committee members seem to be leaning toward 55 percent.

Third, the bill clarifies that the base property value of the district must be reset if an urban renewal plan is modified, so long as that doesn't jeopardize the district's ability to meet any outstanding debt obligations.

The committee spent more than two hours Thursday making some final tweaks to the draft bill. It expects to hold one more meeting to review and approve any final changes before presenting the proposal to legislative leaders.

Also in Boise on Thursday:

• A proposal designating an extra $379,000 to fight wildfires has jumped over its initial hurdle. The Joint Finance and Appropriations budget committee unanimously approved the measure. The state Land Board said the proposal would draw equally from the general fund and dedicated fire protection funds.

The money would be used to provide one full-time assistant fire warden and three part-time employees. It would also increase the pay scale of the seasonal workforce, while extending 12 firefighting positions from five months to eight months.

Land Board officials said the money is needed because they expect to face another devastating wildfire season.

• For the fourth year in a row, Idaho lawmakers on an economic outlook panel have sided with Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter' revenue projections on how much money will flow into the state in the 2017 fiscal year.

The Joint Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee voted 13-4 Thursday in favor of the estimate Otter released during Monday's State of the State address. The governor's forecast predicts $3.34 billion in tax revenue, or 4.9 percent more than the current year.

The committee's recommendation now moves to the state's budget committee for final approval. Lawmakers determine forecasts early during the legislative session so that they can begin hashing out if they will also approve Otter's budget priorities.