Moscow City Council OKs $133M budget with rate increases

MOSCOW — The Moscow City Council passed the city’s $133 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year Monday, and it includes increases in city rates.

Moscow planned the budget while still dealing with the aftermath of a 2023 Idaho Supreme Court decision on Bradbury v. City of Lewiston that reduces revenues to the city’s street and general funds.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by former Lewiston City Councilor John Bradbury against Lewiston. He argued the city had been collecting excessive utility fees and improperly spending municipal funds.

As a result, City Supervisor Bill Belknap said Monday, virtually every proposed department budget for Fiscal Year 2025 is lower than the current fiscal year.

The city will eliminate the same six unfilled city positions it eliminated last year, These include two patrol officers in the Moscow Police Department, a communications manager, an accountant, an arts assistant and a parks administrative assistant.

The budget includes a 3% increase in the property tax levy, a 4% increase in the water rate, a 2.25% increase in the sewer rate and a 3% increase in the stormwater rate.

The city’s priorities this year include budgeting $80,000 to start designing an alternative water source for the Palouse, jointly funding three paid paramedics in the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department and upgrading Moscow’s aging city shop facility.

The budget also includes a 4% cost of living adjustment for city employees.

The City Council on Monday also approved a one-year licensing agreement with a company to bring shared-use electric scooters to the city.

The agreement with Spin allows for up to 150 scooters to be deployed in Moscow. It includes rules that are laid out in the city ordinance regarding such devices. Moscow is not being charged for the scooters. Instead, Spin will pay the city a fee to deploy the devices, Belknap said.

The scooters would be prohibited from being used on the sidewalks along Main Street and the downtown alleys in Moscow, but can be used on the street. They can be used on the sidewalk in other parts of the city, but only as fast as 10 mph. They can travel at 15 mph on pathways and 9 mph on the UI campus.

They are not allowed to be parked around Friendship Square or next to the UI’s Student Union Building. They are not permitted in the UI’s arboretums.

Using technology called geofencing, the scooters can be prohibited from special events such as the Moscow Farmers Market. Geofencing automatically slows the scooter down to a halt if it is in a prohibited area.

Belknap said he does not know the exact date the scooters will be deployed but he was told it will likely happen in time for the University of Idaho fall semester.

A Spin employee will be responsible for managing the deployment and maintenance of the scooters. The City of Moscow entered into a similar agreement in 2022 with a company called Bird Rides to deploy scooters, but that agreement expired after Bird Rides was unable to hire somebody to handle scooter deployment and maintenance.

Additionally, the Moscow City Council on Monday signed off on hiring Boise artist Jay Rasgorshek to paint a mural on the Moscow city building located on Jackson and A streets.

His design was approved by the Moscow Arts Commission and a special panel that selected Rasgorshek’s design out of 52 other submissions.

Rasgorshek’s wrote in his artist statement that he spoke to the Palouse-Clearwater Environment Institute and The Palouse Prairie Foundation before submitting his mural, which incorporates the Camas lily and local animals species.

The mural is slated to be painted in September.

The Jackson and A street building was previously decorated with a mural, but that mural was damaged by vandalism in May 2023.

During Monday’s consent agenda, the Moscow City Council approved a more than $2 million project to install a new emergency radio system for its first responders.

The city’s current radio equipment is more than 20 years old and at the end of its life.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.