Boise (670 KBOI News) – The Idaho Freedom Foundation is suing the City of Boise over two recently-created Urban Renewal Agencies, the Shoreline URA in downtown, and the Gateway East URA, near Micron.

Policy Analyst Lindsay Atkinson says the two URAs were created last month, with little fanfare and no voter approval.

“The Idaho Constitution demands that cities and counties have 2/3 approval from voters before they can take out any debt, or liability for debt,” said Atkinson.  “But with Urban Renewal Agencies, since they are a newer concepts than cities and counties, they’re not included in that part of the Constitution.”

She says that makes it too easy for cities to go into debt.

“The actual way that Urban Renewal Districts are created, is when a city council approves the urban renewal plan, that creates the district, and also schedules when bonds are taken out.”

The problem is, bonds have to be repaid eventually, and if the economic boost promised by URAs doesn’t pan out, taxpayers can be left with the bill.

Atkinson says combined, the two URAs could take out bond debt of about $120 million.