City distributes flyer on 1% local option sales tax, which will appear on Nov. 5 ballot

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Sandpoint residents recently received mailers outlining the details of a proposed 1% local option sales tax, which will appear on the Tuesday, Nov. 5 ballot. If approved by 60% of voters, the LOT would be applied to retail sales within the city of Sandpoint, with revenues earmarked for road and sidewalk infrastructure work over a period of 25 years.

According to the flyer — which was created and distributed by the city of Sandpoint — the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that average consumers spend about 8.4% of their household income on food at home. In Sandpoint, the 2022 U.S. Census found median household income was $60,208. Using those figures, the city’s flyer estimates that the median Sandpoint household would spend about $5,057 on groceries over the year, amounting to $51 per year spent on the 1% sales tax increase.

Ponderay also has a 1% local option sales tax in place, which is on the 2024 ballot for renewal. At the same time, Sandpoint voters approved the increase and extension of a tax on short-term rentals and tourist lodging in 2022 from 7% to 14% through 2035, with additional revenue going toward street maintenance, reconstruction and pedestrian improvements. 

City Hall’s informational mailer also pointed out that Sandpoint had another 1% LOT to pay for the renovation of Barlow Stadium and War Memorial Field. That tax sunsetted in 2020, raising a total of almost $6.9 million. 

“It was observed that, during peak tourist months, local sales tax collections rose by as much as 85%, reflecting that a significant portion of the tax was collected from tourists,” the city stated in its flyer.

Local option taxes are a tool made available to “resort cities” in Idaho, with populations 10,000 and under, and are labeled as “non-property taxes” with funds going toward “a particular purpose or purposes,” according to the city.

The infrastructure needs targeted by the proposed 1% tax include paving and resurfacing of Sandpoint’s roads, sealing and maintaining pavement to protect it against weather effects, improving stormwater management, graveling and grading alleyways, improving sidewalks and pathways throughout the city, and reconstructing failing roads.

According to a pavement assessment by an independent specialist and commissioned by the city in 2019, the proportion of Sandpoint roads classified as “poor” or “very poor” “is double the national average.”

With 100 lane miles of road in the city — and 2016 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated that one lane mile of road costs $1.5 million to reconstruct — bringing Sandpoint’s road infrastructure up to national standards will carry a high price tag. 

The city stated that while dollars from the General Fund are budgeted for road and sidewalk infrastructure, “it is not enough to keep up with the cost of repairs and the continuing deterioration of our roads and sidewalks/pathways.”

Learn more at sandpointidaho.gov.