WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
Volume 44 | Number 52 | 4 Sections | 44 Pages S U N
V A L L E Y
•
K E T C H U M
•
H A I L E Y
•
50¢
B E L L E V U E
•
C A R E Y
IDAHO MOUNTAIN
Sun Valley inks deal with Ketchum Rural
Reverend R eflects Ken Brannon leaving valley
Page 2
Page 16
Ketchum set to alter zoning rules in LI
®
Page 4
Hailey P&Z approves plan for auto business Page 12
AND GUIDE
RANKED
NO. 1
FOR
GENERAL
EXCELLENCE
BY
THE
N AT I O N A L
NEWSPAPER
A S S O CIAT I O N
Cratering wages push Blaine behind state Declining pay, higher home prices are a troubling combo By MARK DEE
W Express photo by Roland Lane
May We Play Through? Cool weather didn’t stop mini-golf players from enjoying the annual Ketchum Wide Open bar crawl on Saturday. Local bars created putting courses for teams to compete against each other to raise money for the Sawtooth Avalanche Center. The Cool Runnings team, from left, Alan and Ally Barnhardt, Hayley Walsh and Spencer VanGuilder, had some fun showing off their costumes at the Cellar Pub. Nick Harman, audience and service director for the Argyros Performing Arts Center, said, “We’re thrilled that we brought in a lot of young people to the theater. It was a great opportunity to showcase the venue. It was a really fun day.” Ten bars participated in the crawl. “It went really well,” said Kieran Burns, head brewer at the Warfield Distillery and Brewery. “There were a lot of cool costumes. It was a perfect day for heaps of fun!”
BCSD rolls out rough draft of budget Increased carryover could bolster emergency funds, contingency By MARK DEE Express Staff Writer
The Blaine County School District unveiled its first draft of a 2019-20 budget to the school board last week, showcasing a $63.4 million general fund spending plan—and a healthy cash reserve—in advance of a formal June 11 hearing on the subject. The preliminary general fund proposal jumps $5.6 million from the $57.8 budgeted in 2018-19, though that doesn’t mean the district will be making or spending $5.6 million more, according to District Finance Manager Bryan Fletcher. Rather, the bulk of the boost comes from an additional $5 million in beginning balances brought into the general fund— the result, Fletcher says, of tidy spending practices that have led to increased carryover from the past two years. That money won’t necessarily be spent. In Fletcher’s draft, the $5 million is immediately transferred to a financial
emergency fund to further the board’s stated goal of keeping two to three months’ worth of operating costs—between $9 million and $12 million—locked away in a restricted reserve. The district currently has about $3.5 million in that fund. The prospective transfer—like every line item in the budget—is subject to board approval. The carryover represents the sum of the budget surpluses accumulated in previous years. Until recently, it’s been used to patch shortfalls in the district’s budget; but, in the past two years, the district has come out ahead—and banked the leftovers. That number stood at $7.7 million at the end of fiscal 2018, Fletcher said. He expects that trend to continue for the time being. “I believe we’ll have a healthy carryover this year, and a reasonable carryover next year,” he told the board. The 2019-20 general fund is also buoyed by $2.99 million See BCSD, Page 11
Express Staff Writer
ages in Blaine County fell below the rest of Idaho for the first time in recent memory during 2018, as the buying power of residents and the cost of housing continue to trend in opposite directions, according to federal statistics aggregated by the Blaine County Housing Authority. Last year, the inflationadjusted mean (average) Nathan Harvill wage for employees in Blaine Housing Authority County fell to its lowest point since 2005, per figures compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, the statewide figure leapt ahead, surpassing local pay by almost $1,000— $41,678 versus $40,742. Estimated area median (mid-point) income figures for 2019 released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development are buoyed by the addition of non-wage earnings, and remain higher than the state at large: $76,100 in Blaine County compared to $67,200. But, adjusting for inflation using the Western Region Consumer Price Index, that number is falling sharply—and the gap with the rest of the state is shrinking. Ten years ago, Blaine County’s estimated AMI stood at $90,500 in 2019 dollars; Idaho as a whole was $25,000 less, at $65,500. That’s a decline of almost 16 percent in Blaine County during the past decade. Housing prices, though, are charging ahead. Valleywide, the median two-bedroom unit rented for $1,700 a month in April, based on advertised rents placed in the Idaho Mountain Express compiled by the BCHA. Based on HUD guidelines, a family would need to make $68,000 to afford something at that price. In 2013, when the BCHA began recording classified data, the median two-bedroom unit cost roughly $925, adjusted for inflation—about 45 percent less. The combination of lower earnings and higher prices could exacerbate a dire situation, as workers seek better pay in other, cheaper parts of the state, according to BCHA Executive Director Nathan Harvill. If the trend carries on, higher pay—that magnet drawing workers from lower-rent areas outside the county—would lose its pull. See WAGES, Page 11
AquaDams Are Here!
W A T E RWF A I LTL EE R D FFILLOLOEDD BFALROROI EDR B A R R I E R
Locally Available At Elite Restoration - 621 South Main Unit B, Bellevue, ID 83313 Direct Phone: 208.788.9463 - Email: Info@Elite-Restoration.com
“A good number of management and middlemanagement jobs were taken from the area.”