Archive for January, 2012
A Relaxed Recall Law Would Be Ultimate Ethics Panel
When Idaho’s Republican senators met Wednesday to determine whether or not to leave Caldwell Senator John McGee in a leadership post, they did something that citizen voters are all but denied–vote on the conduct of an incumbent politico. Under Idaho law, citizens must obtain signatures of 20% of the REGISTERED voters just to get a […]
Local Option Tax Hike Bill Likely In Legislature
A bill to bump up the sales tax by 1%–with voter approval–will probably surface in the coming legislative session. Ironic that local politicos and Chambers of Commerce favor allowing voters to approve a sales tax hike when last year they almost uniformly opposed allowing citizens to vote on long term public debt at airports and […]
Idaho Dept. Of Lands Posts Loss On Commercial Ventures
Thursday we asked Gov. Butch Otter about his thoughts on the land board going into the commercial real estate business. Otter stressed that he was adamantly opposed to the state operating enterprises that would otherwise be found in the private sector. He said as long as the state remained in a LANDLORD capacity and avoided […]
Eastern Idaho Energy Dreams Slowly Crumbling
Eastern Idaho’s grandiose efforts to attract business with “incentives” taken out of the pockets of taxpayers are slowly crumbling despite feeble attempts at life support. First it was the Hoku solar panel plant in Pocatello falling on hard times with plummeting stock prices and Idaho Power ready to pull the plug on its electricity. Now […]
Burning Issues And Libraries Maxed Out
Our GUARDIAN staff tax expert has alerted us to possible funding issues in 2012 for some fire districts and libraries. These taxing districts are limited in their legal ability to levy taxes and as property values declined, they have almost uniformly “gone to the max.” City and county governments can raise budgets up to 3% […]
Dark Days Ahead For Hoku?
Idaho Power still has its finger on the power switch at the Hoku solar panel plant under construction at Pocatello, but the Idaho Public Utilities Commision is telling the utility to wait awhile before cutting electricity. Idaho Power Co. had threatened to shut off electricity after the Honolulu-based polysilicon maker missed a $1.9 million November […]
Forget Convention Center Expansion, Fix What We Have
As 2012 opens the calendar we can plan on all sorts of schemes to attract visitors, create jobs, woo businesses, and otherwise grow ourselves into prosperity. The G-BAD boys and girls have expansion on their collective mind. How about simple fixing up existing Greater Boise Auditorium District facilities and make them better–not bigger? The Wall […]
“Buying” New Business Not Worth The Price
We’ve all heard of the husband who purchased a new boat the couple couldn’t afford so the wife gets even by remodeling the kitchen and installing new carpet they also couldn’t afford. That same silly fiscal policy is being advocated by government and editorial writers from Idaho Falls to Boise–if a business isn’t financially sound […]
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