City of Meridian Blogs

by Mike Barton, Parks Maintenance Foreman

Whether it’s patching Asphalt or repairing a Zero-depth water feature, the Parks Maintenance Division inspects and repairs everything from A to Z.

When you think of parks, the first thing that comes to mind is grass and trees. Yes, grass and trees are important, but without the infrastructure that supports it, parks wouldn’t have much recreational value. Our park users expect facilities that are properly maintained and safe for use.

We have a comprehensive inspection program that involves inspecting each infrastructure item in each park on a monthly basis. The condition of each item is noted on an inspection form that rates the condition from being good to needing repair.  If an item is noted as “needs repair,” it is put on the schedule and given a priority ranking for repair. Once repairs are completed, the date is documented, and the item is closed. This systematic approach to infrastructure repair creates facilities that are properly maintained.

Playgrounds are one of the most popular amenities in our park system. Due to their popularity and heavy use, their condition is of the utmost importance. Our inspection program follows national standards for the inspection and repair of playgrounds, as defined by the National Playground Safety Institute. Similar to the infrastructure inspection program, we inspect every component of each playground once a month. Repair items are noted and immediately repaired ensuring all of our playgrounds are safe for use.

When you visit one of our truly great parks and notice an item that needs attention, please don’t hesitate to call the Parks and Recreation office at 888-3579 or e-mail us at recreation@meridiancity.org.

By Reta Cunningham, Deputy Director- Meridian City Finance

The Ada County Assessor is responsible for collecting taxes for all the taxing districts within the county.    To calculate the amount to collect from each property owner they apply the formula below:

The process starts with the Ada County Assessor evaluating your property and assigning it a market value.  Next taxing districts (such as City of Meridian) submit a budget request to the Assessor.  The Assessor divides the budget by the taxable value of all of the properties within the taxing district and determines the tax levy.  The Assessor multiplies that levy rate times your property value to determine the tax due.

There are 40 taxing districts in Ada County.  The total property tax for City of Meridian residents has 10 or 11 taxing districts:

              City of Meridian

              Meridian Schools

              Ada County

              Ada County Highway District

              Ada County Ambulance

              Library

              Cemetery

              Western Ada Recreation

              College of Western Idaho

              Mosquito Abatement

              Meridian Downtown Corp (those in downtown district)

This is a bit simplified because there are exceptions, exemptions, annexations and new construction that can impact the budget request or the property’s taxable value.   There is a statutory limit on the amount the City submits for its budget request; it cannot be more than 3% over the prior year’s budget request.

The City can of course ask for a 1%, 2%,   or no increase.  For its FY2011 budget year the City did not ask for any increase in the budget amount.   At some point in the future the City can ask for that extra 3% (or foregone funds) to be returned.

In addition to the property on the County’s books the City can tax new construction that is not “on the books yet” since property tax is paid in arrears.  This helps the City keep up with population growth and demands for public safety and other services that exceed the capacity of only a 3% increase per year.

The exemption is the “homeowners exemption” that allows owners of primary residences to reduce the taxable value of their property.  Primary residence means that you live in the home and it is not a rental or vacation property.  This amount can go up or down each year based on legislative action.

History of Homeowners Exemption

1980-1982        $  10,000

1983- 2005       $  50,000

2006                 $  75,000

2007                 $  89,325

2008                $100,938

2009                $104,471

2010                $101,153

You may think if the levy rate goes up your property tax bill will also go up but as you can see that may not be the case.  If your property value decreased, even if the total levy rate increases your tax bill may go down from the previous year.  Here is an example of a Meridian home where the total levy rate increased while the property tax decreased because property values fell.

             Year               Assessed Value          Property Tax              Levy Rate

             2007               $211,200                    $1,235.13                   1.013%

             2008               $206,600                    $1,104.91                   1.045%          

             2009               $169,300                    $   985.28                   1.163%

             2010               $144,500                    $   937.22                   1.297%

When property market values plummet (as they have the past few years) it drives the levy rate up even if the City does not increase the amount of its budget.  You can see this in the example below;

The City of Meridian website has a link to the Ada County Assessors webpage which allows you to do a property search to see history of your own levy rates, property values and assessed tax.  We also provide history of the Meridian districts levy rates.   Go to   meridiancity.org / Departments / Finance / Tax Levy Rate Information, to access this information and the link for Ada County Property Search.

By Pam Orr-Meridian Fire Department

On March 31st, the Meridian Fire and Police Department’s will once again partner to present Meridian City’s Public Safety Academy.  We are starting class VIII and still have some available openings for people who live or work in this great city.

Just what is the Public Safety Academy?  Both departments show participants what it is like to be a member of a public safety organization.  Students hear and experience first hand knowledge of firefighters and police officers in the field. 

Participants have an opportunity to: Meet the Mayor, Fire and Police Chiefs, visit the 911 dispatch center and the ADA County jail.  They also learn what Meridian detectives and fire investigators are challenged with, they practice CSI duties, learn about traffic stops, to include hands-on use of tools of the trade such as the radar gun and others, they learn about drugs in our community, and how the K-9’s work and are trained.  Students are given the chance to wear all the gear necessary while performing building searches looking for criminals or fire victims.  Learning CPR and first aid, how to protect your family from fires, and an opportunity to learn about fire behavior and fire extinguishment are also covered. 

Classes meet in Meridian on Thursday evenings from 6:30-9:00pm.  There are four Saturday commitments the departments call Super Saturdays as they are exciting hands-on meetings that include opportunities to drive department vehicles, rappel from the training tower, shoot fire arms and fire hose, learn about TAZERs, cut up cars using many tools of the trade and so much more!   

The Meridian Public Safety Academy is free of charge, but you are required to complete an application and make a commitment to attendance. 

If this opportunity sounds like something you are interested in and you live or work in Meridian; contact Pam Orr at 888-1234/ porr@meridiancity.org or Melissa Delaney at 846-7360 / mdelaney@meridiancity.org for an application.  

Brenda L. Sherwood

Economic Development Administrator

Industry Clusters – A centerpiece for economic development and a strategy for growing jobs.

Many of you, I’m sure, have been hearing a lot about The CORE in the newspaper and on the news.  The CORE is Meridian’s Health Science Technology Corridor, a private/public partnership developed to excel the growth of the health science industries in Meridian.  For those of you catching up on Meridian’s economic development strategies, let me begin with a brief explanation of cluster development.  The idea behind ‘clusters’ (sometimes referred to as corridors) are interrelated firms and supporting and coordinating organizations geographically concentrated in close proximity of each other.  These concentrations are usually comprised of companies, suppliers, institutions, services and universities that together create powerful synergies and sustainable partnerships developed to share ideas, start new enterprises and create jobs!  Their ssophisticated knowledge about their industry becomes the centerpiece for local and regional economic development.

The key to developing a marketing plan for targeted industries is to facilitate the development of new job creation.  A determination that many of our Meridian citizens said the City should focus on to create a better economy.

Industry clusters drive the economy and clusters emerge from a region’s core competencies.  In other words, if we encourage the growth of the types of economic activity that is already going on in our region, then we position ourselves to be the leaders in a growing market, develop new technologies and create a better skilled workforce.  New companies interested in coming to the area will not win without encouraging a strong “homegrown” regional economy.

According to the Brookings study, ‘The best way to create more jobs in a state is to grow them at home, rather than poach them from elsewhere: Some 95 percent of all job gains in a year in an average state come from the expansion of existing businesses or the birth of new establishments.’

However, the same Brookings study suggests that company attraction accounts for only 2 percent of job growth, with expansion of existing companies accounting for 43 percent of new employment. The preponderance of new jobs are created by new startup companies. Startups grow up and account for a whopping 56 percent of all job creation.

We are all about jobs! We are committed to growing our health sciences and technology industry and bringing more jobs to The CORE and Meridian. Nearly 5,000 people are employed by health sciences companies in Meridian, with an average wage of almost $50,000 a year. Despite the recession, the health science industry in Meridian was one of the few sectors to see job growth. 

Our strategic planning efforts will look at several other industries to create the same kind of dynamic job growth throughout Meridian.  Communities need “change agents” who help initiate innovation and diversify the economy.  We plan to work harder and smarter to bring about change and jobs. 

By Jacy Jones, Deputy City Clerk

Who built my house?  I am remodeling and need a copy of the original floor plans.  I just moved to Meridian; what was the average water, sewer, and garbage utility bill for my residence last year?  My child is working on a school project for their government class; how do I get copies of the ordinances passed this year?  All of these questions and many more can be answered through the City of Meridian’s public record request process.

The City of Meridian is a Public agency.  It differs from other entities doing business in the area in that most records generated are public in nature and therefore, when requested, the City must disclose these documents to the public to be in compliance with Idaho State law.  To comply with these laws and to assure citizens of Meridian that their requests are a high priority to City staff on March 2, 2010 the City of Meridian City Council adopted Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 6.17.

By law when a request is received Staff must respond within three business days.  That does not always mean that the record will be supplied within those three days.  While that is always our goal; occasionally in the three day period all we have learned is that we need more time to complete the request.  IF that is the case we can request an additional seven business days.  This means that when a request is received by the end of ten business days the requestor (you, the public) should have a response to the request.

As part of our internal SOP the City Clerk’s Office is to receive all requests and act as a point of contact between the Public and other City departments.  When a request is received Clerk’s staff log that request and then distributes it to other City departments who may have the responsive document(s).  The Clerk’s Office keeps the other departments updated as to the timeline of the request and when the timeline has expired.  Once the document has been located it is sent back to Clerk’s staff.  The information is then copied and routed to the Legal Department for approval.  Once it is approved the document(s) is then released to the requestor.  Having the Clerk’s staff manage requests has reduced a duplication of efforts within the City and made processing public records requests much more efficient.

Last year 249 public record requests were received and processed by City staff. This means that all 249 requestors received a response by City staff within the required timeline.  By doing this we hope to continue to earn the Public’s trust and show how important transparency is to our City.  Whether we have the document you are hoping to acquire or not we guarantee that you will receive exceptional customer service because while complying with Idaho State law is of upmost priority to our staff, being in line with the City of Meridian’s values and providing the best for the community we serve is what we strive for on a daily basis.  If you have questions, information, or documents you would like to obtain you may contact the City Clerk’s office at 208-888-4433 or access the public records request form online from the City Clerk’s webpage or by clicking HERE.