Priest River adopts $4.16M budget

PRIEST RIVER — The city approved both new fee schedules and its budget at its Aug. 19 meeting.

At just over $4.16 million, the budget is a slight decrease of roughly $73,000 over the current fiscal year's budget.

Under the budget, the general fund was set at $1,322,777, the street fund at $653,192, the water fund at $1,245,705, the waterwater fund at $923,128, and the impact fee fund at $15,216.

The vote on the budget followed a public hearing on various fees charged by the city, with the council voting to adjust them to reflect what those services cost.

Water and sewer rates will increase by about 4%, with overage charges also increasing. The city's sewer and water rates will both go up by just over $1, with sewer rates increasing to $40.68 and water rates increasing to $35.45 per month. Overage charges — charged per 1,000 gallons over the base amount of 10,000 gallons per month for both water and sewer — were set at $4.43 for water and $5.10 for sewer.

The council voted to use reserve funds to lower water improvement bond payments, keeping the increase in water rates to roughly 26 cents. The city was also able to decrease a trio of wastewater improvement bond payments by about $1.33 per month, allowing it to keep the increase to 24 cents per month.

The council voted to raise multi-family rates to a full assessment, increasing it from the 75% previously charged. 

Minimal changes were made to the general fee schedule, which funds the police department, animal control, city hall and public works departments. Among them, the right-of-way encroachment permit increased from $50 to $100 to reflect what it costs the city, and flash drives were added to the available options to receive records at a cost of $2.25.

In changes to the building and zoning fee schedule, multiple changes were approved. Among them, planning fees would increase from $750 to $1,000 per every 5 acres while requests for changes to the Comp Plan would increase also increase by $250 to $1,000, and annexation and de-annexation request applications would increase by $250 to $1,000.

Also, conditional use permits would increase by $250 to $1,250 and grading permits would also increase, with the amount charged based on cubic yards. Final plat applications would go up by $250 to $750.

"One of the things that we find out, especially as we get into these more complex developments, is they drag on and it costs the city a lot of money to revisit and continue to revisit," Mayor Jeff Connolly said. "We're not trying to make a profit here. We're just trying to cover the costs it takes us to do business."

The changes will help the city adapt to current housing and construction costs, more accurately reflecting the costs to the city, planner Bryan Quayle said.

"It's more than just about revenue and money coming to the city," Connolly agreed. "This is about trying to get something that's a more accurate document that you know when we look at it, hand it out or talk to people about it, we're confident that our document and our fees are figured accurately and are as new as possible."