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Bonner County GIS shifts review work, seeks Coeur d'Alene MLS data and budgets for software, vehicles
Summary
The county’s GIS presented budget edits that moved review fees to the assessor’s revaluation budget after staff changes, described large recurring contract costs (EagleView, Rock Cloud, MasterTouch), and said it anticipates an existing BOC-approved two‑year lease for eight vehicles.
Bonner County’s geographic information systems (GIS) unit told commissioners at a budget workshop that staff changes shifted about $12,500 in review-fee revenue into the assessor’s revaluation budget, and the department said it is pursuing an additional MLS data agreement with Coeur d’Alene to improve property-sales coverage.
The move matters because county property valuation and parcel review workloads rely on complete sales data and stable GIS licensing and imagery contracts, the department said. GIS staff said the current local MLS (Selkirk) captures substantially fewer Bonner County sales than Coeur d’Alene’s dataset.
The GIS presenter described a roughly $35,060 baseline for review-fee revenue and explained that land-records review work previously housed in GIS has moved to another budget ("Dennis' budget") after two staff positions moved. "The major reduction... is that the we do reviews for addressing and we do... the 2 land records people got moved into Dennis' budget, so I want their review fees to go into Dennis' budget," GIS staff said.
GIS staff told commissioners they have been evaluating local multiple-listing-service options and said Coeur d’Alene MLS provides a much larger set of Bonner County sales: "Coeur d'Alene MLS has about 143% more Bonner County sales than our local MLS has," the GIS presenter said. Staff said legal and IT have reviewed a contract and that the county will return with a formal request to enter into an agreement if the MLS’s legal review completes.
The department outlined recurring contract and vendor costs: EagleView aerial/imagery services, a Rock Cloud service, and a MasterTouch print-and-mail contract for assessment notices that has historically been in the ~$330,000 range. GIS staff said a three‑year licensing payment was underfunded last year and should be about $39,700 in the coming cycle.
Capital and operating items discussed included licensing increases, a plotter and plotter ink, small assets (two office chairs and GPS cables/batteries), and a contracted copier lease. GIS also budgeted for vehicle maintenance and repair for new leased vehicles: maintenance items such as oil changes, tires, brakes and scheduled services are not covered under the maintenance agreement and were added as operating expenses.
The presenter confirmed a Board of Commissioners–approved lease option for eight new vehicles on a two‑year term; GIS listed the existing BOC approval as the reason the vehicle lease line remains in its packet. Staff noted contract-service items and requested line notes so the public and commissioners could see what each object code covers.
Next steps: GIS will refine worksheet notes (for example, itemizing the Coeur d’Alene MLS one‑time and recurring fees), confirm licensing figures with vendors, and return with a formal contract request if the MLS legal review concludes. No new contracts were signed at the workshop.
