Idaho officials cast wary eye on the future

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Sunday, January 11, 2009 2:19 AM PST

PAYETTE — Officials in Payette County are taking a cautious view on the new year because of the economic circumstances the nation faces, and “caution” could just be the watchword in 2009.

Payette Mayor Doug Henderson said, this year, while some projects will likely take shape, in light of the fact state revenues to the city are decreasing, the main focus will go toward keeping the city financially sound.

“Like everyone this year, we’ll be putting an extra emphasis on controlling costs,” he said.

The city did accomplish some goals in 2008 Henderson said he is pleased with, such as holding the line on taxes again, which he said are the lowest for the city in 20 years. The city also made some major improvements to the airport taxiway and extended the airport runway. Road projects included the paving project on South Ninth Street and installing a new crossing system across U.S. Highway 95 at the high school. The city also worked with the county and the Payette County Recreation District to bring water to the new ballfields near McCain Middle School, he said.

In the spring, the Payette City Council accepted a bid from an airpark development company to purchase land adjacent to the airport for a future airpark, but Henderson said, at the time the city did that, the financial situation took a turn for the worse, and the credit situation tightened, stalling the project.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We’re still working on that,” Henderson said, adding the development group is still planning to move forward, and the city should know something by the spring.

Henderson said the city intends to move forward with a few projects, such as greenbelt enhancements and perhaps further airport development. The Seventh Avenue North pavement project will also conclude this spring. The city is also planning to add a new park on Seventh Avenue North this spring.

Still, the emphasis will be maintaining rather than improving services this year, Henderson said.

That is similar to the outlook Fruitland Mayor Tom Limbaugh has on 2009. Major infrastructure improvements will be part of projects carried over from 2008, such as finishing the new water treatment plant and water system and adding a traffic signal light at Allen Avenue and 16th Street.

“I think that our focus needs to be on infrastructure and continuing to provide the services to the people that they deserve,” Limbaugh said.

In 2008, the City Council opted not to raise the property tax levy, and Limbaugh said, given the economic circumstances, he doesn’t see how city officials could ask for it in 2009.

“But I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said.  Limbaugh said the developer for the Springcreek Manor Assisted Living complex indicated he is still on target to break ground on that project this spring. Other than that, however, any growth is likely to be minimal.

“I think, given the economic situation that the entire world is in right now, I don’t think we can look toward a lot of new population growth, like new homes, but I do think things will slowly turn around,” Limbaugh said.

Payette County Commissioner Marc Shigeta said he was hesitant to make any predictions on 2009, given the past year.

“The economic downturn has kind of changed everybody’s thoughts,” he said. “It’s been pretty cautious for the most part. I just think 2009 is just going to be tightening the old belt and looking for ways to save money.”

Some major improvements the county made in 2008, Shigeta said, were off of the Interstate 84 Exit 3 at Palisades Junction, in preparation for an automall by local car dealer Mike Hanigan, but any further improvements have been put on hold as that project has stalled.

Much of 2008, however, was business as usual, Shigeta said, adding, even before the economic downturn set in, the county was already looking closely at spending and saving.

“We were probably in a more guarded position, more so than our neighboring counties, because we had that murder trial that resolved last year,” Shigeta said of the Hector Brito Alvaraz trial that concluded in 2008 that incurred a tremendous cost to the county.  The county had already started finding ways to save in order to cover court costs, which he said will probably wind up in the million-dollar range, and then the economic downturn hit.

“We were very conservative with our approach to the budget,” Shigeta said.