Mayor Tom Dale, Chief of Police Bill Augsburger and others from Nampa Development Corporation met with Canyon County Commissioners on Thursday (4/23). Team Tom wants to put a second floor on the yet to be built Nampa Public Safety building and rent 10,000 sq. ft. of space to the Canyon County for courtroom space.
Mayor Dale and the Nampa Urban Renewal plan calls for NDC to build a 20,000 sqft on top of the yet to be built Nampa Public Safety building at additional cost of $7 million or $350 per square foot. They want the county to cede the annex to Nampa so they can tear it down and use the land for parking.
Team Tom and the NDC want to then give the county "rental credit" for the annex land. The figure mentioned was around $300K to be applied to rent for new courtroom space on the second floor of the yet to be built Public Safety building. Nampa wants to charge the county $19-$20 per square foot per year under their lease terms presented. This means the County Commishes would be on the hook for at least $190K per year for courtroom space in this building at county taxpayer expense.
Mayor Tom still does not understand Article 8 Section 3 of the Idhao Constitution. However, our Commissioners seem to understand the non-appropriation clause in this part of the constitution. They can't go out beyond one budget cycle for any reason without 2/3 assent of the voters. Leasing space on a long term lease is illegal. Commissioners wisely expressed this concern to Team Tom. Mayor Dale seemed more than willing to violate the Idaho Constitution when it serves his interests.
Urban Renewal wants to build the building without a vote of the people. If the Commissioners do act on this offer, they explained to Mayor Dale they would have to seek a bond election in order to purchase a condominium portion of the Nampa Public Safety building.
If this project moves forward all taxpayers of Canyon County would have a building costing in the range of $42 million with two forms of financing. First would be non-voter approved revenue bonds issued by Nampa Urban Renewal. Second would be a condominium portion approved by a voter approved bond election. Every Canyon County property taxpayer will get stuck with paying for this project. Commissioner Alder attempted to explain this to Team Tom and others at this meeting.
Mayor Tom and Nampa Urban Renewal appeared willing do anything they can to avoid a taxpayer authorized bond election. They remain optimistic legal challenges to Nampa Urban Renewal will be dismissed by the Idaho Supreme Court. They can then issue revenue bonds with zero voter approvals.
Dear Guardian, it is clear that the poor taxpayer is being exploited by Mayor Date and the rubber stamp city council. It costs all Canyon County taxpayers to make up the property tax revenue usurped to pay for urban renewal. Blessings and thank you for your hard work. godell melba
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