Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District, Friend or Foe?...

After having received a number of calls and emails regarding the stories in the Idaho Statesman regarding Mr. Brian Bandhauer's plight of the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District (NMID) wanting to take his property for "Hamburger Money", I had to better understand how this issue got so out of hand, as reported.


I contacted them on Friday to set up a meeting to ensure I had both sides of the story before determining if any action needed to be taken to help resolve perceived outstanding issues.


The NMID was very friendly and set up a meeting for me Monday morning (Dec 24th) so we could go over the issues that were reported as well as to answer any questions that I also had about the district. Daren Coon (District Secretary-Treasurer) who pretty much runs the office in Nampa for the district set up our meeting that included: Monte Janicek (elected Director for the Meridian area), Ron Becker (elected Director for the Nampa area) and John Anderson (District Water Superintendent).


We started out with the issues at hand, the printed stories within the local paper, and I asked them to tell me how we got were we currently are. They explained the situation that is well summarized in their press release below (some papers did publish "parts" of this press release):


"News Release
Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District
1503 First Street South, Nampa, Idaho 83651
Tel: (208) 466-7861 -- Fax: (208) 463-0092
Serving The Treasure Valley Since 1904

Nampa, Idaho
December 21, 2007

The following statement was issued today – Dec. 21, 2007 – by the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District.

The Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District Board of Directors has reviewed the case of Mr. Brian Bandhauer, the Meridian property owner who has protested the $4.78 in fees associated with his delinquency on District tax assessments for 2006. In order to avoid further controversy and confusion resulting from the Idaho Statesman’s reporting on this matter, the District will waive the late charges so that Mr. Bandhauer's property may be removed from the list of irrigation district tax delinquencies.

The Idaho Statesman’s inaccurate reporting and editorial opinion on this matter highlights the importance of fact checking before going to press. The truth of the matter is not as titillating as the story the Statesman chose to tell at Mr. Bandhauer’s urging.

The District does not “slap” or “take out” liens on the property of any landowner, as suggested by the Statesman. Like property taxes, irrigation district assessments are declared by Idaho statute to be liens upon the assessed real property until the taxes are paid. In the year after the assessment is levied, irrigation districts are required by Idaho statute to file with the county a list of properties that are delinquent in paying assessments. This list includes all delinquencies, not just those from the prior year.

After the District files the delinquency list, delinquent landowners have three years to “redeem” the property from the list by paying the delinquency. As with property taxes, if a landowner has not paid the delinquency, including penalties and costs, Idaho law requires that an irrigation district “must” make a tax deed in favor of the District for the property. This occurs after the property owner is provided notice of pending issuance of the tax deed, and an opportunity for hearing before the district board of directors. The board’s decision to issue a tax deed is subject to judicial review. Even at this late stage, the property owner has an opportunity to redeem the property before it is sold at auction.

The number of delinquencies within Nampa & Meridian is typically around 2,000. The vast majority of these are resolved, so that, annually, only one of the approximately 40,000 tracts of land within the District is sold at tax deed auction.

The District is not “fighting” with Mr. Bandhauer and has not “slapped” a lien on his property to grab his cheeseburger money as suggested in the Statesman editorial. Mr. Bandhauer’s property has been part of Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District since 1904. The land was recently subdivided in 2000. Delinquencies in 2001 and 2004 were all resolved by payment within a year. In fact, the title company involved in Mr. Bandhauer’s purchase of the property paid the 2004 delinquency and 2005 assessment within a week after Mr. Bandhauer purchased the property, which makes Mr. Bandhauer’s ignorance of the assessment all the more perplexing.

Just last month, in November, Mr. Bandhauer sent payment for the 2006 and 2007 assessment with a note indicating that he had discovered the mistaken address. He deducted from his payment the $4.78 in penalties and costs because he assumed the District had made the error. After investigating the situation, the District discovered that the error was in Mr. Bandhauer’s deed, and suggested that he seek reimbursement from the title company that made the error. Mr. Bandhauer’s response was that he would not call the title company over $5, and would instead contact the press.

The result is two articles and an editorial opinion that incorrectly characterize Nampa & Meridian’s actions and motives. We regret Mr. Bandhauer’s course of action, and the Statesman’s reporting on this matter. The District has received numerous disparaging and threatening emails and phone calls, none of which are warranted by this situation.

Nampa & Meridian will continue to work with landowners to resolve delinquencies, following the procedures mandated by Idaho statutes. Nampa & Meridian explains the assessment and delinquency process to landowners through its assessment notices, in newsletters and on its website – www.nmid.org. As part of its response to the Statesman’s reporting on this matter, Nampa & Meridian will review and update those notices in an effort to more effectively communicate with landowners on this issue.

The District will have no further public comment on this matter."



We discussed the current process of customer billing and collections (set by the State code) by the district, how it compares to other districts, their success as compared to other districts and the process for challenging billing. It appears that they do go above and beyond state code with regards to communicating with their customers and prior to the taking of any property deed for auction (that happens in the 3rd year of a customer not paying their bills).


In fact both Mr. Coon and Mr. Anderson related stories about how they, every year, go door to door to ensure that the 3rd year owners on the list for being behind and in line for the Taxing District taking the deed for auction, or tenants of the properties are notified face to face (this not required, but is done after the certified letter is sent as well letting folks know they are behind in their payments). There appears to be plenty of effort involved in trying to communicate with customers that are behind, but mistakes are still made and there is an excellent process in place for challenging those issues via the elected Board of Directors, one just needs to ask.


As far as the process goes, I came away with the feeling that the largest irrigation district in the State is managing their customers properly and within the law... I also learned a great deal about the irrigation district that I would encourage others to also look into.


Most Meridian residents these days live on what used to be farmland (some still is). There are well over a hundred square miles of farmland had water rights associated with those lands that were used to irrigate their fields. The owners of those lands got together in 1904 to form a taxing district where the combined water rights and costs of delivering water could be done for all the owners in the most cost effective way as possible.


In Meridian, the District takes care of providing water via canals and some pressurized systems. They provide the developers with the design criteria for setting up pressurized systems that will be compatible with the water system that NMID manages. After development, these systems are normally then turned over to NMID for management and maintenance. There are still systems in Meridian that are managed by the local home owners association where maintenance and fees are handled in a different manner. The cities of Boise and Nampa each have their own methods of managing the irrigation delivery systems and maintenance of those systems along with the billing for those services.


The district is a not for profit taxing district that puts our district tax Dollars to use in maintaining the canals, pressurized systems and providing communications to customers about their irrigation and to developers with regards to building systems to a base set of standards. I would encourage you to visit their austere offices at 1503 1st S. in Nampa to see how they are spending your Dollars and how they stretch the Dollars they do receive to provide all of us with the irrigation water we use for our yards in the summer and the farmers in the district with the water they need for their crops.


Our NMID Board of 3 Directors is elected on a staggered basis (one new Dir. is elected every year for a 3 year term). The Directors oversee the $2.8M budget that is used to operate and maintain our district's irrigation system. As you might have realized, the system is quickly becoming a system that supports a more urban environment as opposed to it's original design. Our Directors ensure that they review process and procedures so that the district can provide support to all of it's customers in the most efficient and effective way possible.


The NMID has a website, we discussed putting more information on it so that folks might be able to better understand the charter and operations of NMID and it's process and programs that it provides to all of their customers (like being eligible for opting out, giving up your lot water rights or understanding where these tax Dollars are being spent).


I walked away satisfied with the processes in place. People need to take the time to understand the obligation they assume with regards to the NMID when they buy their property and use irrigation water. Everyone has a fair system of rebuttal to deal with any issues they might come across, they just need to ask the folks in the office and follow that advice.


Had Mr. Bandhauer followed the advice of the folks in the NMID office and contacted his elected NMID Director and discussed an option to waive his charges or even discussed the issue with his title company, that made the mistake in the first place that caused the penalty of $4.78, but instead ran to the media for resolution. I'm confident that the process in place would have resolved this issue quickly, effectively and fairly...


Maybe it's good that Mr. Bandhauer and the media created the "fanfare" it did so we can all learn more about the irrigation water that is so cost effectively provided to most of our back yards for a minimal costs to us.


Take the time to call the NMID and ask them any questions you might about have about the irrigation district at 208-466-7861. You will find that Mr. Coons is a wealth of knowledge with regards to how the district works and it's history. They can also connect you with your elected NMID Board Director, tell you if your land is eligible for opting out of the irrigation program or how to opt into the program. Understand that they do have 40,000 customers from Boise to Nampa that they work hard to communicate with via their newsletter (which I hope will soon be printed on their website), letters and press releases about our delivery system.


NMID's website currently has some limited information, but I believe we will be seeing more and more information very soon.

Your thoughts?

Merry Christmas to all...