City Government
Eagle May Have Violated Idaho Constitution
October 24, 2019 
Tommy Simmons at the IDAHOPRESS posted a front page story today detailing what appears to be an illegal land purchase on the part of the Eagle City Council and Mayor.
In short, they agreed to make installment payments in excess of a single year’s revenue without citizen approval.
GUARDIAN editor Dave Frazier has spent well over a decade forcing local governments to abide by Article VIII, Sec. 3 of the Idaho Constitution which mandates a vote for debt in excess of a year.
In this latest attempt to go around the citizens, Eagle claims that by merely having cash in an account, they didn’t have to seek citizen approval for the long term debt.
As soon as a citizen comes forth to challenge the city, they will have a pretty good chance of winning in court–just as Frazier has done repeatedly.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Oct 24, 2019, 2:46 pm
That is piss poor legal advice. I have never heard that angle before.
Oct 25, 2019, 9:26 am
The legislature needs to take a look at the circumventing of the Idaho Constitution with these lease purchase agreements. The Eagle example takes it a step further and in my mind is clearly outside State law.
However, that said, the voters of Canyon County recently defeated a $180 million plus bond issue for a new jail. However the law as interpreted by the Idaho Supreme Court would allow a lease purchase with the approval of 2 out of 3 Canyon County Commisars without any vote. You think they wouldn’t do that? They have had numerous consultations with Bankers to do just that. Something similar to HB 117 is needed.