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North Idaho Builders-PAC Endorsements

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One week before their candidate forum, the North Idaho Builders-Political Action Committee’s endorsements leaked to the press. Although we cannot disclose the source of the information, it is deemed credible.

Mayor Interviews Coming Soon…

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We interviewed 2026 mayoral candidates sitting Mayor Woody McEvers and Councilman Dan Gookin in June. We invited the other candidates today. To avoid conflict of interests all CDA News content and reporting will be handled by the employees. There is a significant possiblity the site will be on hiatus until the end of the election or the end of the next mayoral term.

Downtown Towers Continue to Rise

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City leaders continue to grapple with growth and demand for living downtown. Nearly two dozen meetings have taken place to find a solution to building allowances and heights downtown. Here are several possible scenarios:

The flavor we are hearing right now is that potentially no more towers should be added to Front Street or Sherman Avenue. This is an ongoing story and will be updated regularly.

Gookin Floats Paying City Staff for Savings

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Mayoral candidate Dan Gookin recently floated the idea of compensating city employees for cost-saving measures they discover and implement. While his proposal lacked details consider the following scenario as an example.

Picture this: “Thank you for saving the city $40,000, Mr. Jones. On your next paycheck, we will give you a bonus of $40!” While the savings in this scenario are great for taxpayers, the monetary reward for city staff pales in comparison to the savings. A bonus of $400 would be more exciting to the employee. But, where do you draw the line? How would the city differentiate last-minute, money-saving changes from poor planning or vetting? Isn’t efficient spending part of the job? Isn’t that what engaged employees do? Gookin’s idea comes across as if he has never led an organization or a group of people. It takes extra time and effort to change course in a bureaucracy and implement cost savings. To put a number on it devalues the intrinsic motivation.

We need engaged city employees. But even more, we need engaged citizens. City staff can’t be everywhere all the time, but citizens are! Consider how one citizen noticed this problem in the park:

City beach exhibits erosion.

Four days later the erosion increased and undermined the sidewalk. An engaged citizen contacted city officials to report the issue.  “[The Parks Department] was unaware of the erosion, probably caused by a broken sprinkler head. A crew will fix it shortly.”

Thankfully, the city fixed the issue and the beach and sprinkler are as good as new.

CDA Braces for Potential Property Tax Hike

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The Coeur d’Alene City Council is currently grappling with a projected budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-2026, and a key discussion point is a proposed 4% property tax increase. The council met on July 21, 2025, to review the preliminary budget and discuss strategies for ensuring the city’s long-term financial sustainability. Here’s what you need to know about the proposed tax increase and its potential impact on your wallet:

  • The Proposed Increase: The preliminary budget includes a request for a 4% property tax increase, along with an anticipated $185,000 in new revenue from market growth. According to the information provided, the city is legally allowed a 3% increase as well as an additional 1% based on forgone amounts from previous years.
  • Why the Increase? The city faces “structural revenue challenges,” where costs continue to increase while revenue growth is limited.
  • What Will It Cost You? The agenda packet includes preliminary estimates of the annual increase based on several property types and assessed values. For example:
    • A residential property with a taxable value of $268,240 could see an annual increase of $6.44 or $0.54 per month (if 1%) or $2.15 per month (if 4%).
    • A commercial property with a taxable value of $1,862,436 could see an annual increase of $44.66, which translates to an increase of $3.72 per month (if 1%) or $14.89 per month (if 4%).
    • A residential rental property with a taxable value of $961,425 will see an annual increase of $23.05. That equates to $1.92 per month (if 1%) or $7.68 per month (if 4%).
  • Council Concerns and Considerations: The council must weigh the need for increased revenue against the potential burden on taxpayers. The council is likely to debate the necessity and fairness of the proposed increase, exploring alternative solutions to address the budget deficit. It is worth noting that Coeur d’Alene is not alone in this as other Idaho cities face similar pressures.
  • What’s Next? The city council will continue to discuss the proposed budget and tax increase in the coming weeks. Public input will likely be a crucial factor in their decision-making process. The packet indicates the next steps involve conservative wage increases and strategic position holds.

PSA: Garden District Officially Designated: “Historic”

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The Coeur d’Alene Historic Preservation Commission was recently informed by the U.S. Park Service that the City’s downtown Garden District neighborhood has been officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places.


Letters from the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office informing residents of the listing were mailed out Wednesday to all registered property owners in the Garden District. 


The Garden District is one of Coeur d’Alene’s oldest neighborhoods, featuring houses built primarily from 1890 to 1940. Found within its borders are the homes of many of the people who built Coeur d’Alene – the doctors, bankers, lawyers, architects, builders and early mayors — as well as more modest homes originally occupied by everyday citizens and millworkers.


The neighborhood features an array or prewar housing styles, from classic bungalows to elegant Queen Annes; from tudor revivals to striking art deco designs.


The newly designated historic district contains over 500 primary buildings and nearly 400 outbuildings, and stretches roughly from Lakeside Avenue to Montana Avenue, and 5th Street to 11th Street.


The effort to recognize the neighborhood’s historic significance began when a group of Garden District neighbors approached historian Robert Singletary, then the Chair of the Kootenai County Historic Preservation Commission, with the idea of placing their neighborhood on the National Register. That commission subsequently applied for and received a grant from the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office to conduct a reconnaissance survey of the district.


On completion of that survey, the project was handed over to the newly formed Coeur d’Alene Historic Preservation Commission, which applied for another State grant to officially nominate the Garden District to the National Register of Historic Places.  


A special “Garden District Weekend” has been planned to commemorate the neighborhood’s new status. The Museum of North Idaho will conduct a tour of the Garden District on Saturday, May 31. The following day, Sunday, June 1, the Historic Preservation Commission and the Garden District Board of Directors will host an event in Phippeny Park to officially celebrate the listing of the neighborhood in the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, please contact Historic Preservation Commission Chair Walter Burns at (415) 259-7000.

https://www.cdaid.org/Home/ShowPage?path=7196

Learn more about the Garden district here.