Make a difference: highlights from the 2024 State of the City address

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The theme of this year's State of the City address is "Make a Difference." Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper chose this theme based on her desire to see city residents become more involved in local legislative processes.

"Citizenship was never meant to be a passive experience," she said. "I want you to know that active citizens make a difference even when they do nothing but show up and listen, or maybe ask a few questions. Social science has taught us that the observation effect is a real thing. An observed elected official is naturally going to be a little more thorough, a little more careful."

Public involvement was a key point in her State of the City address Wednesday. She says the public can become more involved by:

• Following the city's social media pages
• Checking the Idaho Falls website regularly
• Seeking news from reputable sources
• Watching/attending city council meetings
• Filling out an application for service on city boards, committees and commissions
• Or, by reaching out to local legislators before important votes

"If you remember nothing else I say today, please remember that everyone can make a positive difference," Mayor Casper said.

During the address, Mayor Casper also touched on a variety of important city topics including education, population growth, infrastructure and economy.

Education

The State of the City luncheon took place just before the address was given. All proceeds will benefit the Mayor's Scholarship Fund.

"As many of you know, this event is a fundraiser for a program that's very dear to me," she said. "The Mayor Scholarship Fund was something I helped to co-found back in 2006. We have worked a long time to build this into a program that is unique in that it supports community youth in grades 8–12, not just seniors."

She believes that bolstering the confidence of our young students will set them on a path towards higher education.

"We want our recipients to be local kids who end up having a life where they become the brightest and most successful version of themselves," she said.

Growth & infrastructure

"It comes as no surprise that growth and expansion are major themes in our plan and we're really growing fast," Casper said.

The city was involved in roughly 26 public works projects in 2023. This includes the major reconstruction of 17th and Woodruff. When describing additional work being put into our local parks, Mayor Casper emphasized the reason behind the effort. 

"It brings the spirit of joy to our community," she said. "People take those memories, and they associate them with living here. That's good. It builds community spirit by having these kinds of wholesome opportunities."

The continued growth is also catalyzing expansion of the Idaho Falls Regional airport.

"Currently, we're hitting FAA commercial and cargo growth targets that our last five year plan identified for the 2040's," she explained. "In the fall, We also received a $950,000 air services development grant from the FAA to develop a route to the Los Angeles area. So in the coming months, we'll be working to establish that route."

Economy

The mayor says state legislation changed the financial landscape of Idaho Falls, starting with the passage of House Bill 389 in 2021. This legislation put a dent in the spending money the city was anticipating for various projects.

"Finding out the city would be receiving fewer dollars than expected upended many of our plans and our schedules for how we were saving and spending money," she explained.

Increased supply and demand in the local housing market is also effecting the economy.

"We've all seen our property become more valuable," she said. "This has been exacerbated by a legislative unwillingness in recent years to consistently index Idaho's homeowners exemption. This has resulted in a significant shift of the tax burden from business to residential tax payers."

She acknowledged that a lot of the pressure for funding is on homeowners in the form of property tax.

"Idaho homeowners have been paying much, much more in property tax while many businesses have been paying less," Mayor Casper said. "Some just a little less and others much, much less. Is that desirable? That's up to voters and the state officials to decide."