Councilors: Daycare rule changes need more work

Following a long discussion and multiple comments from the public, the Moscow City Council chose not to approve proposed rule changes pertaining to daycares Monday.

Instead, it asked city staff to revisit a few of those proposed changes that they feared would present safety risks to children.

Specifically, the council expressed concern that home operations with fewer than seven children would not be required to become registered with the city.

Councilor Maureen Laflin expressed concern that these daycares may not follow safety regulations, such as fire drills, if the city does not know they exist.

The other major point of concern is the formula that determines the child-to-provider ratio at daycare facilities. To determine this ratio, the regulations assign points per child based on their age, with the youngest children being assigned the most points.

Under the old rules, there needed to be a minimum of one daycare director or staff member for every 10 points. The new rules increase the minimum to 12 points to allow for more children to be admitted to each daycare facility.

City councilors and members of the public stated that this new formula presents a safety issue by allowing more infants in these facilities.

“That you would add one more infant into some of those situations just makes me crazy,” said Councilor Gina Taruscio. “That just scares me.”

Dulce Kersting-Lark spoke during the public comment section of the meeting and added that this still would not adequately address the shortage of infant care available in the city.

Currently, there are 110 daycare providers across 13 licensed daycares in Moscow.

Katie Short, Moscow Police administrative specialist, said this effort to rework city code started in 2019 when a local daycare provider expressed desire to increase their capacity to address the long waitlist of children needing their services.

Since then, the police created a task force and held public hearings with providers and families to get input on the issue.

Also on Monday, the city council listened to a presentation on next year’s proposed city budget, which includes a 4.7% cost of living increase for full-time employees across all departments.

It did not provide for new positions requested by the Moscow Police and Fire Departments. The city denied the Moscow Police Department’s request for two additional patrol officers, and it denied requests for three to six full-time paid paramedic/firefighters from the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department.

Most of the fire department is made up of volunteers, including resident volunteers who attend the University of Idaho. City Supervisor Bill Belknap said the fire department’s volunteers and residency program saves the city at least $3 million a year.

The police department’s budget makes up 35% of the city’s $20 million general fund.

The budget also shows a 5% increase in utility water rates and an 2.25 % increase in its utility sewer rate.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.