From boards to bond, election has it all

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SANDPOINT — This election has a lot going on — from seats up for vote of various district boards to a school levy to a vote on a solid waste bond measure.

If you're planning to vote by absentee ballot for the May 18 election, you'll need to request it by the end of today. And since May 7 is the day that Bonner County needs to have that request in hand, you might want to drop it by the Bonner County Elections office to be on the safe side.

All absentee ballots must be returned to the office by 8 p.m. on May 18.

While the deadline to pre-register to vote has passed, residents can still register at the polls on Election Day, said Clorrisa Koster, Bonner County elections manager and chief deputy clerk.

Early voting is ongoing at the Bonner County Administration Building, 1500 U.S. 2, through May 14, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

While the county does not require masks, Koster said they are available for those concerns about possible COVID-19 risks that voters can take with them to the polls.

While the county is seeing a corresponding increase in registered voters due to increase in new residents, Koster said the election is, in many ways, just like all of the other elections the county has handled.

"We have always had processes and internal controls in place to ensure the safekeeping of all ballots," she said. "Our office also follows all ID requirements to vote and register.

"Other than that this election looks the same as other similar elections just with more volume."

Among the items on the ballot are two six-year terms on the Pend Oreille Hospital District board, two six-year terms on the East Bonner County Library District board, and one six-year term on the Southside Water & Sewer District board.

Running for seats on the POHD board are incumbents Tom Lawrence and Helen Parsons and challengers Dolores "Dodie" Glass, Julie Berreth and Jessie Peters. Running for seats on the EBCLD board are incumbents Jeanine Asche and Amy Flint and challengers Jalon Peters and Kathy Rose. Running for seats on the SWSD board are Kass Larson and Alex Murray.

The West Bonner County School District is asking for voters to renew a $3.4 supplemental levy. A first attempt to pass the levy was rejected by voters on March 9, 821 for and 943 against.

The levy would maintain the district's current $1.47 mill rate per $1,000 of assessed property value, which covers about 25% of the district’s budget. However, although the mill rate has not increased, the district would receive roughly $3.4 million instead of $3 million as they did previously due to an increase in the region’s property values.

School district officials have said the levy covers roughly 25% of its annual budget.

Among items covered by the levy are special education, transportation, building and maintenance costs as well as salaries for classified employees.

To pass, the levy needs a simple majority.

The solid waste bond vote is to secure the public permission to go after an $8,733,700 U.S. Department of Agriculture loan for improvements to Bonner County's solid waste system.

Much of the loan would pay for improvements at the Colburn waste transfer site, including a new waste transfer building, improvements to the existing transfer building, a new household hazardous waste disposal building and general improvements. In addition, it would cover improvements to some of the other transfer sites like Dufort, Dickensheet and Idaho Hill.

The loan would be paid back over 10 years at a 1.75% interest rate. There would be no increased cost to property owners as the loan would be repaid through a fee increase adopted in September 2019.

The last investment in the solid waste system was in 1996, Bonner County Commissioner Dan McDonald said. Since that time the amount of waste handled in the county has doubled even though population did not see a corresponding increase.

McDonald said county officials estimate they would not only be able to pay it off within the 10 years but eventually would be able to add a tipping floor at Idaho Hill, eliminating the need to haul trash across the county to its Colburn facility, which would see significant improvements as well.

"The big takeaway is that this bond measure will not increase the solid waste customers' yearly user fee, McDonald said.