Thoughts on the Kootenai Rec Center

I notice that all four letters-to-the-editor in this morning's paper have focused on the upcoming vote to decide whether or not we want to add a recreation district to the list of entities benefitting from our taxes.

The concept involves construction of a multi-use recreation center located alongside HWY 200 in Kootenai. The center would include a swimming pool, skating rink and meeting rooms, among other amentities. We will have the opportunity to vote for or against this proposal in February.

I believe the results of this election will determine what course our community intends to follow over the next decade or two. If the measure passes, I have great fear for many of the people who live here. I'm afraid of what will happen to segments of our population, including "the kids," for whom this facility has been reportedly conceived.

I'm for the kids, who deserve first and foremost a good education and decent facilities for receiving that education. I'm for the twenty/thirtysomethings who would like to be able to afford to own a home in this area. I'm for the babyboomers who would like to be able to afford to retire sometime before they die. I'm for the elderly on fixed incomes whose homes---if they still own them---have shot up to such a taxation value that they may not be able to afford to own them much longer.

So, since I'm for all these age groups, I think I'll vote "No" on this proposal. I would like for all these segments of our local population to realize their most important needs: education, an affordable home, an affordable retirement, and the ability to keep the home they've spent a lifetime buying.

It seems to me that a hefty smorgasboard of possible additions to our tax statement looms in the future. Some members of our community have invited everyone and his brother to move to our area. Many have complied. After this weekend's national exposure through ABC's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition," many more are likely to comply.

That means a whole lot more folks coming across that bridge because they've found "Heaven." It's likely a lot of those people will need to find a place to live in their new "Heaven"---a place with water, sewer, electricity, passable roads, and the other amenities that people expect when they move someplace else.

That means water systems and an aging sewage system---and need I say anything about Great Northern Road---will need some improvements, and who's gonna pay? We're already facing a countywide increase in urban renewal taxes to pay for some of this stuff.

Many of those new people to our area will have kids, and those kids may need to go to school. Could that possibly mean that our schools may get the squeeze, and could that possibly mean that we need to expand our educational facilities to take care of this influx? Schools and their accessories are expensive.

The last time this district added new schools, the money came from a bond election back in the late 1980s, nearly 20 years ago. One of the major schools that grew out of this bond levy, Sandpoint High School, opened in 1991, too small for its population at that time. In 1996, one portion of that school's roof caved in, requiring major repairs.

In 2005, the SHS gymnasium roof started leaking, causing the sports teams to have to scramble to other facilities to play their games. In an email late last week from SHS Athletic Director Cheryl Klein, I learned that the roof continues to leak, students have sustained injuries from slipping on the gym floor and teams are still scrambling to other facilities for their games. Who's paying to have that roof repaired, and who's gonna pay for all the new educational facilities to meet the needs of an ever-increasing influx of students occupying our classrooms?

I have a son who's 28. Like a lot of young people his age, he'd love to be able to afford to come back to his hometown to live. It made me sad to hear him say, "I'll never be able to afford to live here unless I'm a millionaire." He'll be spending his life elsewhere just like a lot of folks his age. They can't afford to buy, and how could they ever afford the taxes to pay for property if they could purchase it?

I know a lady who's owned property in Bonner County for decades. She says her tax statement now is higher than what she originally paid for her land. She's retired and on a fixed income, and she says there could come a day when she'll have to sell her property because she'll no longer be able to afford the taxes.

When I think of all that needs to be done to prepare for all the people we've invited to live in this area and how much it's all gonna cost, I think I'd put a new tax-supported recreation center far down on my list of priorities while planning for future tax bills. I'll support schools (the kids) and our educational facilities and the senior citizens on fixed incomes long before I'll support this concept at this time in our community.

I believe it would be wise for the proponents of the recreational facility at Kootenai to explore methods other than property taxes to support their dream.