.png)
Sophia Aldous
PRIEST RIVER – To appraise or not to appraise? That was the question before West Bonner County School District Trustees Monday night at a special board meeting. Trustees debated whether to get current appraisals on unused district properties like the district office in downtown Priest River, Idaho Hill Elementary fields and a plot on Hoodoo Loop Road. Plans are currently underway to move the district office to the Priest River Junior High, which will leave the building on Main Street vacant.
There were price quote summaries from three vendors. Valbridge Property Advisors of Spokane Valley quoted the district a combined price of $4,500 to appraise all three properties and individual pricing of $2,900 for the district office and $2,500 a piece for Idaho Elementary fields and the parcel on Goo Doo Loop.
Vogel Appraisal of Sandpoint quoted $1,400 for the district office and $750 a piece for Hoo Doo Loop and Idaho Hill fields. The combined price for all three properties combined as one was $1,650.
Appraisal Associates of Sandpoint quoted the district at $3,500 $4,500 for the district office, $1,200 - $3,000 for Idaho Hill fields and $800 for Hoo Doo Loop. The business did not offer a combined price.
Trustees Paul Turco and Kathy Nash agreed on choosing a combined price for all three properties and wanted to vote to give Superintendent Kim Spacek the greenlight to proceed.
“The way I’m looking at this is we’re checking off a box,” Turco said. “We’re trying to follow our policies, and we want these appraisals. Just because we get an appraisal from any one of these companies, we can still set a value or send it to bid, put it on the market or put it up for auction and we will then have to determine if we’re willing to accept those too.”
Vice Chair Ann Yount disagreed, saying the district should hold off on spending more money from the general fund until the current dis- trict financial audit was complete.
“We don’t know how much the audit is going to be,” Yount said. “We haven’t given our teachers, our para pros (professionals), anybody a raise and we need to make sure we have the money to do those things.”
Turco replied that he understood Yount’s thought process, but he felt the district, “Needs to spend a little money to bring in more money that can help address what you mentioned.”
Trustee Delbert Pound said he was in favoring of having the district office and Hoo Doo Loop parcel appraised, but he thought the district should wait to have the Idaho Hill fields appraised.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with Idaho Hill yet, and maybe we should just wait on that,” Pound said.
Trustee Chair Margee Hall said she agreed with everyone’s opinion, explaining that with pay negotiations underway trustees needed to listen to the needs of teachers and staff. She also said that trustees could honor those negotiations while still giving Spacek and WBCSD Business Manager Kendra Salesky the go-ahead to continue to research appraisal options to come up with the most financially sound choice.
“Where would the funds come from for this appraisal?” Hall asked. “Would this be a facilities line item or would it come from the general fund? Could HB 521 possibly pay for this? I just don’t want to take away (money) from staff.”
Salesky said she wasn’t sure if that money would come from the facilities fund, but she would research it.
Trustee Nash said the district should look at the money for the appraisals possibly coming from the capital asset funds.
Turco said that the appraisals should not be delayed too long, and he was in favor of approving the action at the meeting. “With spring approaching, realtors and property appraisers become busier, and I don’t want to see us fall to the bottom of the pile, so to speak,” Turco said. “I think we have to be mindful of that, otherwise it may be too late for when we do need to make a decision.”
In the end the board approved the combined bid of $1,650 from Vogel Appraisal on the condition that the money be used from the facilities fund. Yount was the only trustee to vote against the measure.
The district is receiving approximately $3.9 million from House Bill 521, which was enacted in 2024 by Governor Brad Little and the Idaho Legislature. The bill provides $1.5 billion over the next decade to help fund building construction and maintenance for public schools in Idaho.
But HB 521 had some downsides for school districts. The legislation ended August elections for school districts, and created new rules governing minimum instructional hours and days. The bill also changed the way school districts receive lottery funding, leaving districts low on cash in the short term.
The facilities bill rerouted about $50 million in annual lottery dividends to a restrictive property tax relief fund that must be used to pay off local bonds and levies. Many districts used the lottery money for routine upkeep, from asphalt repairs to new light bulbs, as well as maintenance staff salaries. Those funds can now only be used for debt repayment, and that’s left a potential $30 million gap in funding for day-to-day upkeep of facilities.
SOPHIA MATTICE-ALDOUS IS A MURROW NEWS FELLOW WORKING DIRECTLY WITH NEWSROOMS AT RANGE MEDIA AND THE NEWPORT MINER NEWSPAPERS THROUGH A PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY. HER REPORTING IS AVAILABLE FOR USE VIA CREATIVE COMMONS WITH CREDIT.
