In 2010, Kathie LaFortune lost her husband to brain cancer, but “the amount of support I got from this community was absolutely amazing.” LaFortune said. “I felt like I owed my community my life, so this is sort-of my way of paying them back.” Now, LaFortune wants to return that support by serving as District 1 Latah County Commissioner.
LaFortune’s platform focuses on correcting property taxes and getting younger families involved with politics.
This would be LaFortune’s second term as a County Commissioner. She likened her past term to “learning by firehose,” because she transitioned from serving in the public through healthcare to serving as a member of local government. She spent a lot of time learning, planning and building codes and the budget process, filling in her free time by going to the courthouse to sit in on commission meetings, LaFortune said.
One of the items LaFortune worked on in her first term was correcting the homeowner’s exemption, a decrease in the amount of property taxes one pays if they live on the taxed property. A few years ago, homeowner’s exemption was capped at $100,000. As more people move to Moscow and pay more for housing, homeowners end up paying a much higher percentage than industrial or commercial properties, LaFortune said.
Latah County has many tax-exempt properties, which can include churches, hospitals and education buildings, LaFortune said. This means the Latah County budget is operating on a “shoe-string,” compared to towns like Lewiston, so the local government has been analyzing each tax-exempt property to see if they should qualify for exemptions, LaFortune said.
Once she learned the ropes of her office, LaFortune was able to begin fulfilling the campaign promises she made, trying to get younger families involved in the political process, she said.
While campaigning, LaFortune ran across many young families who wanted to be involved with local government but didn’t have the time or money to do so, she said. Now that she’s learned more about the structure and functions of local government, she said she now feels confident that when someone wants to get involved, she can guide them to vacant positions.
Last year, LaFortune’s ability to work was limited by COVID-19, she said. But people from Latah County, the City of Moscow, University of Idaho, Gritman Medical Center, Public Health – Idaho North Central District, the Moscow School District and more recently, local mayors, have begun working together on the Emergency Operations Center, LaFortune said.
LaFortune’s goal for a second term would be “to make sure Moscow (and Latah County) continues to be the incredible supportive place that it was for me when I was a young married mother raising children here, and for the generations to come, even if my kids don’t end up living here,” LaFortune said.
Cody Roberts can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CodyRobReports.