Shoshone County partners with Post Falls for building inspections

WALLACE –– The Shoshone County Commissioners approved a contract with the city of Post Falls last week for the use of one of its building inspectors while Shoshone County establishes its new building inspection/code enforcement department.  

Under the new contract, Post Falls and the county will split the revenue from issuing new building permits 65/35 indefinitely until the county’s newly hired inspector is able to work on his own.  

Previously, the county had shared a similar relationship with the city of Kellogg, but the split was 85/15 in favor of Kellogg. This constituted a reported $80,000 to $100,000 that Kellogg was making doing these inspections for the county.  

According to Shoshone County Planning and Zoning Administrator Dan Martinsen, when Kellogg was notified that the county was rescinding its contract, the city reportedly countered by offering a 5% discount with no additional changes to the contract.  

In the days before the decision, Kellogg reached out to the county and offered them a 75/25 split for a 3-6 month contract, but the county decided to go with the more lucrative option.  

“The long-term nature of the deal with Post Falls seemed better than the short-term nature,” Martinsen said. “And the fiscal difference in the fees being paid out.”  

According to Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman, moving away from Kellogg wasn’t a simple decision, but part of the county making a bigger play toward generating revenue while also providing a currently missing level of enforcement.  

“We made this decision to bring the building inspector in-house because of code enforcement,” Zimmerman said. “Not because Kellogg wasn’t doing their job, we were lacking code enforcement. Our borders, from the St. Joe River to Kootenai County to the Coeur d’Alene River all the way up to Montana, we’ve got a large area.”  

Recently, the county hired James Corning to fill the role of building inspector/code enforcer. Corning, a longtime employee of the Shoshone County Assessor’s Office, is currently going through the process of getting all the training and certification required for his new position.  

Commissioner Tracy Casady did not agree with the decision, arguing that maintaining the relationship with Kellogg was more important than the county receiving a slightly larger share of the funds generated through issuing building permits. 

According to Zimmerman, during its annual review of the county, the assessor’s office reported numerous properties with new construction that had not applied for or been issued a building permit.  

“The title companies are starting to search for building permits, the lending companies are starting to search for building permits,” Zimmerman said. “If you don’t have a building permit, later on that’s going to be a factor.”  

The pursuit of additional revenue sources has been a priority for the county as recent budgetary concerns have left the county scrambling for funding opportunities beyond taxes.