Kootenai County GIS and elections staff recommend minor map corrections in biennial redistricting review

Summary

GIS manager Dave Christiansen presented the biennial commissioner-district review and a 2025 county population estimate of 191,100. Christiansen recommended minor map corrections to fix shoreline/districting drawing errors affecting a handful of structures and said full redistricting could be postponed for two years if the board prefers.

Dave Christiansen, the county GIS manager, presented the biennial commissioner redistricting evaluation and explained the method used to estimate 2025 population: he averaged the last two annual Census estimates, applied 2020 block populations to existing structures, and apportioned new structures added since 2020. Christiansen reported a county population estimate of 191,100.

Christiansen recommended two map corrections (exhibit 1 and exhibit 2) to fix a shoreline-drawing error that placed a few parcels in the wrong district and to straighten a utility-related boundary line; he said the changes affect only a small number of structures (four structures cited in discussion) and do not move large populations. "So that's how we've generated the numbers and we came up with the estimated population for this year of 191,100 people in the county," Christiansen said.

Commissioners discussed the proposed adjustments and the board agreed to prepare the corrected map materials and return the item at the January meeting when formal action would be scheduled. Christiansen noted his +/-3% target balance is a working convention he uses but that current figures are close to balanced.