Hearing today on courthouse funding

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners are hosting a public hearing tonight on a backstop plan to pay for the last of the renovations to the courthouse.

The hearing starts at 6 p.m. at the Bonner County Administration Building.

The county is asking a district court judge to confirm a plan to issue up to $1.5 million in general obligation bonds to finance the rest of the courthouse overhaul.

However, the county may ultimately need substantially less or no such funding. County commissioners have already amassed $896,000 by paring down departments’ budgets during workshops this month, said commission Chairman Cornel Rasor.

About $1.2 million is needed to finish the remodel and reopen the century-old building at the mouth of Sand Creek.

If granted, the judicial confirmation would enable the county to incur indebtedness beyond a single fiscal year. The Idaho Constitution requires a vote of the people for such indebtedness, but the county could be granted an exception to the rule if the court finds the courthouse is an ordinary and necessary expense.

Commissioners contend they are not trying to bypass the public, although they concede that the public would likely defeat the measure if it were put to a vote.

Commissioner Mike Nielsen said they are seeking judicial confirmation in an attempt to bring a speedier end the to the project, which has worn the patience of employees and officials who have been displaced by the remodel. The board is also trying to avoid costs associated with delaying the work.

But the judicial confirmation could prove to be the least controversial aspect of the process. The county is also simultaneously seeking a judicial declaration that inter-fund transfers are lawful in Idaho.

“We need to know,” said Rasor.

Rasor and Nielsen said they have been told by other officials and legal advisers that the practice is kosher, but they have never been able to get anybody to put it in writing.

An inter-fund transfer from Solid Waste, for instance, was used to help finance the new juvenile detention facility. Transfers from Solid Waste and Road & Bridge have also already been used to pay for the courthouse remodel.

The transfers are eventually paid back with interest.

The request for judicial declaration is raising eyebrows out of concern that the practice might be deemed improper. The declaration could also have statewide implications because commissioners say inter-fund transfers are utilized by many other counties.