Benefiting from new home construction, property taxes will be going down. Travis Hanson, the school district superintendent, reported on the expected improvements and challenges resulting from the growing population in the area. Plans for airport improvements also moved forward.

Increasing Law Enforcement
Mayor Tim Verzal is sending a letter to the county requesting additional law enforcement in Deer Park. This has been requested in the past and included in the annual budget, however, Spokane County Sheriff has not been able to provide the additional deputies because of staffing issues predating the pandemic. 

School District Report
The report covered the history of buildings in the Deer Park School District, the impacts of the growing population, the reduction of property taxes, and planning cooperation with the city to meet future demands on school and municipal systems. Superintendent Travis Hanson shared a slide presentation(included in the video below) to help illustrate the future of the school district. One of the key benefits is reduced property taxes as the home construction spreads out the costs of the school district. 

Airport Master Plan
The city council moved forward with some modifications to the airport’s master plan that is required by the FAA. The plan calls for improvements to the runways and taxiways in order to better support aircraft currently based at the airport. The improvements would allow aircraft to take off with a full load of fuel. The council also discussed reducing sound from aircraft training activities at certain times of day or night.

Watch the video at the bottom or click a link to view a portion of the meeting interesting to you. 

Key Points

• 00:00 – Call to Order & Roll Call
• 00:25 – Invocation & Pledge of Allegiance
• 01:45 – Approval of Agenda & Meeting Minutes
• 05:10 – Public Hearings – Ad Valorem(Property) Taxes for 2023 & Revenue Sources
• 06:00 – New Business – Crawford Street Preservation 
• 07:20 – New Business – Requesting Additional Law Enforcement 
• 08:35 – New Business – Deer Park School District Growth Report
• 41:10 – New Business – Airport Master Plan
• 48:50 – New Business – Verizon Wireless Lease Agreement
• 55:30 – Ordinances – RV Park Ordinance – Second Reading
• 1:01:00 – Ordinances – Ad Valorem(Property) Taxes – First Reading
• 1:01:50 – Consent Agenda
• 1:02:45 – Council Member Reports – Jason Upchurch
• 1:05:35 – Council Member Reports – Caleb Stapp
• 1:09:30 – Comments from Audience