Word on the Street

The Mayor's Missive
June 8, 2023

Thank you for your support of Housing and Air | Nothing is achieved without your support, so thank you for showing up at the ballot box and voting in favor of funding our efforts on housing and air service.

We will now be able to financially support more housing initiatives while still providing air service that is critical to our tourist industry. To get more than 75% approval was a great result and confirms that our community views housing as a priority for our town. Our commitment to you is to effectively and efficiently allocate those funds to tackle our housing crisis. As for the air and marketing funding, while that will now be half the level it was before, there are sufficient funds to maintain current air service levels and the marketing required to promote the air travel and support our tourist industry.

Budget season begins – seeking your input 
Our annual budget season kicks off on Monday with a review of our current expenditures and our anticipated plans and costs for fiscal year 2024. We have already reviewed our draft 5-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) with the Council but need to hear from you. Please click here to provide feedback on our CIP priorities. With limited financial resources, we must prioritize the infrastructure upgrades as best we can. Your input will help direct those limited funds.
 

Housing grant received and Housing Action Plan refreshed
We kick off the second year of our Housing Action Plan with good news! We received a grant from the Idaho Housing Finance Association for $125,000 toward Blaine County Housing Authority's housing efforts. We are truly thankful for the award. At Monday's Council meeting, we will review the proposed refresh of our Housing Action Plan and deliberate on alternate ideas for the use of the vacated buildings in Forest Service Park.
 

Neil

To read the rest of Issue No. 129 of the Word on the Street, click here.