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Thursday, March 28, 1996
North Idaho College's Student Newspaper • Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
One Percent would cost $6.5 million Initiative ready for ballot, campus budgets uncertain byShannon Hnrwood Stntintl Reporter he One Percent In itiative has been the source of controversy both on campus and off for the past five
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According 10 Rolly Jurgens. dean of business odminis11111ion. passage of this initiative would cost NIC $6.5 million. Only S473,000 of that amouni comes from other counties in Idaho. Counties otllcr lhan Kootenai that have students 111ending NIC must pay a non-Kootenai County residcni fee 10 compensate for 1he missing propcny toxes that Kootenai Coun1y rcsiden1s must pay. The money comes mostly from 1hc liquor t.ues in 1he other counlies. "h's a major dcnl (lhe One Percent Initiative)," Jurgens said. Jurgens s1a1cd thnt the staff hos tx:en Lllking about the si tu ation. and no one is sure if their budgets will Ix: cut. or if the llllle will replace the funds somehow. Ron Rankin, president of the ldnho Staie Propcny Owners Association. 1s lhe iu1hor or the ini1io1ivc and leader of the fight 10 reduce propc ny iaxes in Kootenai Count:,. To understand Rankin's bnnle. it is 1mponan1 10 understand the process in •hich an ini11n1ive becomes law. Actonling 10 Tony Stew an, political ICitnce 1ns1ruc1or. it involves th ree steps. Fia,t, an indiv1dunl or group must draft Jn iniua1ivc. After 11 1s wriucn. 11 must be 1ubmi11cd 10 the anomey general. The auomey gcncrnl check, the ini1in1ivc for ltllronstitutionnl content and may make 1ugges11on~ 10 improve the ini11ativc. The soggesuons mny Ix: taken or ignored. Then 1he ini1io11ve must receive the rtq~1rcd amount or signatures from reg1sicrcd vo1ers. The initiative can circulate for two ~car, before the signatures become •~valid. The required number of Signatures changes as the number of rcgisicrcd voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election changes. Currently the number is at 41,350. All people who sign the initi ative must
be residcn1s or 1hc same county. November elcc1ions. The initiative is then placed on the ballot The Q & A nier Rankin provided states. " The One Percent lnitia1ive docs three for 1he November elections. It requires u things: ( I} It limi1s propcny taxes 10 I percent majority vote 10 pass. If it passes, the legislature mny amend it 1hen or anytime in of the t:ixable value of all propcny - after nll exemptions have been applied. (2) It removes the future. This is the third try for Rankin and his One Percent Initiative. The first ~ e're like mlssfonartss. a11emp1 was in 1992. time tax bills come The ini tia1ivc ended up on the ballot and was defeated by a 60-40 margin. out, ws get converts.· During the second 011cmp1 in 1994, - Ron Rankin Rankin and his group fai led to collect the requi red numlx:r of signatures in time. all mnintennnce and operation funding of This time around, Rankin has collected public schools and the two stntc community 63,000 signatures. This is we ll above the colleges from the propcny tnx. (3) It limits 41.350 required. budget increases funded by propcny laxes Ran kin wil l file on April 3. and the 10 1101 exceed the cost of living index figure initiative will appear on 1he ballot in the
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u~ed 10 cnlculnlc Social Security tx:nefits. Revenues from new c:-on)truction and/or annexation are exempt from the cap." In response 10 why he 1hough1 the initiative failed la~t time. Rankin stated 1h01 the election was right lx:fore tax bill came ou1 nnd he feels the outcome may have lx:en different if 1hc bills arrived before 1hc election. "We're like nussiono ries. Every time rnx bills come 0111, we get more convcns," Rankin ~aid. Rankin is driven by whut he feels is the righ1 of individuals who pay mxcs. "As Je~sc Jnckson would say. 'Them 1hu1 pays. gc1s 10 says'," Rankin said. According 10 Rankin, one of 1he major
see INITIATIVE on Page 2 Stop, police/Law enforcement student Shane Hight takes aim during a firearm training session with Leon Strigolle. Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training specialist. Strigolle's expertise Is utilized throughout Idaho by state, county and city agencies and educational law enforcement programs. See realted story on Page 14. photo by Kibbee Walton