City Government
City To Hike Power Franchise Fee?
August 7, 2011 
The Idaho Freedom Foundation reports Boise has plans afoot to raise the franchise fee Idaho Power pays to do business in the city by 50%.
The City claims the $800,000 increase in revenue will go toward “infrastructure improvements,” but like the conservative leaning IFF, we see it as nothing but a money grab that will be paid by consumers.
On the PLUS side of the City budget coin, we hear the coppers are aiming to reopen their contractual negotiations in an effort to “help out” the mayor and council.
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Comments & Discussion
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© 2011 Boise Guardian. 
Aug 8, 2011, 7:00 am
Help out how? By sucking more money out of the taxpayer?
Aug 8, 2011, 8:57 am
Don’t you just love Team Dave….
Aug 8, 2011, 9:18 am
We will not raise taxes on the middle and lower income… only fee and fines will go up… a whole bunch, cuz we must keep the air in that cushion under our fat a$$e$. But don’t you worry, we are smarter than you and have earned it.
Aug 8, 2011, 9:23 am
Too bad cities don’t have to justify this rate increase to the PUC. They raise this tax and all ratepayers are stuck with the new increases with no discussion or public input. They collect these fees for every utility as well as street lighting where I live.
The street lighting one is particularly irksome as every household pays $2.33 each month. This fee goes way beyond maintenance costs for the street light and electricity costs.
Aug 8, 2011, 11:23 am
How does one help stop the big corperations from beating us up like this.
Aug 8, 2011, 12:23 pm
Great! Boise can use the extra bucks as a down payment for the “Choo-Choo”. Nampa has finally learned that the way around the voter is to “sock” away enough tax payer dollars until you don’t need to go to the voter for some silly project that no sensible human being would ever condone. What a country!!!!
Aug 8, 2011, 11:13 pm
Franchise fee? Bu!!sh!t I say. Since when is Idaho Power, Intermountain Gas, Qwest (or whatever it is they call themselves these days) a franchise.
They are raising property taxes on people who heat their homes, use electricity and telephones(don’t forget the 911 fees for endless and mindless upgrades of 911 systems)
I say let growth pay its way or go somewhere else. All the freebies and handouts to developers has got to stop . We’re all broke and those who had money now have a whole lot less with the real estate bust, bank bust, stock market bust.
I feel like a fool for even trying to save money for retirement. my defined retirement was dismantled in the 1980’s and replaced with a 401K now worth pennies on the dollar. I now expect the govt. will devalue the dollar to pay all the debt off. When does all this stop and people start to take control of the fools and idiots we have in power. Wall Street and the Bankers are all still in their Brooks Brothers suits and Gucci loafers. I have yet to see any of these crooks going to prison for what they have done to this country.
Aug 9, 2011, 9:07 am
It’s the year of the fee folks–Increased fines, stormwater fees, franchise fees, right-of way fees–While we as idividuals hate these increases think what effect it is having on every buisness and industry. A sly form of double taxation and truly anti-buisness