It seems there is some underlying angst between residents and city governments of Idaho Falls and Ammon. For outsiders or those new to the area, Ammon historically was pretty much a suburb of Idaho Falls, tucked into our southeast corner. When you cross over from the Grand Teton Mall to say the Target store area, you have crossed into Ammon city limits.
I was gone to college and life in Boise for many years, and upon returning four years ago I sense quite a bit of angst has developed between our city governments and residents. I do not know why, but there seems to be bickering about financial relationships, and sometimes I even hear hints that some feel better than another.
There is the perception that Ammon residents are significantly wealthier on average than Idaho Falls residents, but the average income figures I have seen are even. Ammon’s Hillcrest High School is widely viewed as the local ‘rich-kid’s school’, so maybe that feeds into some of the local angst?
Overall, I get the feeling Ammon wants to grow big on their own and prove superiority to Idaho Falls. Unfortunately, their planning has been haphazard and common sense sometimes takes a backseat to their superiority (or maybe inferiority) complex. The issues between Ammon and Idaho Falls are magnified by the absence of such issues between Idaho Falls and Ucon or Iona.
I hope this sparks a healthy dialogue between Ammon and Idaho Falls residents, so we might put to rest some of this angst and work together in a more symbiotic relationship.
What do you think?
Popularity: 11%
Related posts:
Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
Loading ...
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Ammon has been coming into lots of cash the last few years with their Ammon Town center development, the Edwards theaters, Kohl’s, etc.
Hopefully they develop some quality long-range planning for their future, and don’t blow the cash on silly short-sighted things.
Well I personally haven’t notice a lot whole lot of this attitude. The one thing that I have heard is that the property taxes for Ammon are considerably lower then for Idaho Falls. I know this has put a bee in a few people’s bonnets because the cities are so intermingled and close together.
There is some issue going on now with Ammon’s fire protection agreements.
The Ammon fire chief was quoted complaining that there are only 13 full time IF firefighters at any given time, but someone else said there are at least 20.
There has apparently been lots of bickering about fire and police protection of Ammon, and their contracts with Idaho Falls and Bonneville County.
And then of course Ammon is supposedly flush with all this new cash, but cannot seem to organize their own protections for themselves.
Then there has been short-sighted development issues, especially concerning rainwater disposal.
Some of the new developments decided to install water pits in front of homes (whatever the pits are actually called) instead of traditional gutters that would naturally slope and drive rainwater into sewer systems or sinks.
Many residents apparently did not realize what those pits in their front yards were for, and filled them to the lawn level. Then they got upset each time it rained and their homes got flooded.
I know someone with those pits in their front yard, and they hate them. The pits are cheaper than a rainwater disposal system, but they are more short-sighted and will result in more flooded homes, thereby actually reducing home values over the long run.
Is this an example of the short-sighted development Ammon has embarked on to try keeping their property taxes lower?
In order to understand the differences in the taxes paid by residents in both cities you first need to understand what each provides.
Idaho Falls offers police, fire, water, sewer, a park and rec department with a huge greenbelt, regional parks and three public golf courses(which the residents of Ammon get to enjoy).
Also, Idaho Falls has something that cities as big as Denver and Salt Lake don’t have. It’s own power company which keeps power rates low.
On the whole the only thing on that list which Ammon provides is a park and rec department with limited parks at that. Ammon is going to have to raise its taxes eventually to pay for an updated water and sewer system to handle the future growth.
Ammon does pay for police coverage through Bonneville county but at the same time there isn’t an overwhelming presence of law enforcement. It’s the same thing for the fire coverage, Ammon has to pay for that as well.
If Ammon truly wanted to “one up” Idaho Falls and show that it was the bigger and better city then it needs to do a few things for itself. This includes its own police and fire fighting force, the updated water and sewer system, and hiring more people to run their planning department.
The only thing that I have personally seen the city of Ammon do for itself in recent years is pay for its mile of the Sunnyside project.
There are certainly a few other needs for the city of Ammon that can be addressed but I will save those for another time.
I hate ammon because they get all the cool stuff – Edwards, Craigo’s, umm … okay, nevermind.
I actually have almost zero opinion on this matter since it hasn’t really affected me yet. Does anyone know how much the IF-Ammon relationship costs us Idaho Falls-ites in taxes, or if it’s beneficial in the long run?
Has there ever been an idea for Idaho Falls to absorb or annex Ammon? … 1 police force, 1 fire department, and 1 large tax pool. In the longrun everybody benefits
Actually yes there was a time when Idaho Falls was looking to annex Ammon and that was around the same time all the commercial growth came to 17th and Hitt Road. As soon as the old Savings Center and the trailer park came down is the same time that Ammon said no way to annexation.
My perception is that one of the conflicts between Ammon and Idaho Falls is that Ammon reaps the benefits of the property taxes for all of those shiny new businesses, but Idaho Falls supplies the population and most of the infrastructure to support them. So at the same time that Ammon is providing far less services to its residents, it probably has a higher tax base per resident. I don’t know that for sure, so somebody correct me if I’m wrong.
But the property taxes generated by all of the businesses who have opened in Ammon in the last 5 or 10 years has got to be huge. I remember a flap a few years back about the same thing dnix0112 pointed out, that Idaho Falls provides many amenities that non-residents are free to use. I think that the Idaho Falls Library started actually charging non-residents and it raised a little stink. I don’t think parks charge for anything, but does anyone know if the I.F. Zoo charges more for Ammon residents than I.F. residents? It seems like it would be fair if they did, since I.F. taxes pay for it.
Combining the two cities makes a lot of sense, but I don’t ever see it happening. Combining some services maybe, at least it would make sense to share police and fire services. I think that personal property taxes are lower in Ammon for a reason. You get what you pay for, and you don’t get as much there.
My perception of the disagreement is that Ammon wants to enjoy all the benefits of being next to Idaho Falls without having to pay for it. I seem to recall that Ammon had a fit when asked to help pay their fair share for upgrading Hitt road to handle all the traffic after all the new developments on the Ammon side of Hitt.
It kind of makes me wonder where all of the tax money that Ammon is getting from these huge developments is going. You don’t see street upgrades or other infrastructure upgrades for that matter. Maybe lining some pockets?
Another thing that I thought of that the tax payers of Idaho Falls get through a little higher rate; Idaho Falls Regional Airport. This is a top notch airport and for its size isn’t doing to bad. With more flights in and out of IF, it makes you kind of glad that you don’t have to drive to Boise or SLC to get to where you need to go.
From what I understand, the City of Ammon gave tax deferrals to Edwards, Kohls, etc to get them to come to Ammon, therefore they aren’t going to see any of the big bucks for several years. This is part of the problem, since they have all of the expenses associated with all of these business, but not tax base to support it. Not very smart planning.
Ammon residents voted to increase the city council,they will vote in two new council members this November.Ammon city is larger than you think they have over twenty fulltime employees including a city manager,planning dept with city inspectors for all the construction trades, as well as a city water and sewer dept. The voters also decided to add 12 million dollar well and water storage facility which will allow the city to approve over two thousand new homes, including exclusive foothill properties one mil$ plus price tags.A fulltime mayor is being talked about, as well as a police department.The city no longer allows the (swell type)drainage systems on new construction and the developer that used them in the Cottages will be going back this summer and adding some type of drainage system to repair problem.
It’s good to hear the pit drainage will be removed, I didn’t like the looks of them when I first saw them.
I suppose comparisons should be made per capita. I read on Ammon’s wikipedia page that they have about 10,000 residents?
If so, their government and city budget should be about a fifth of Idaho Falls’ (if we are holding about 50,000 residents).
Those are interesting issues raised that Ammon gets to enjoy IF facilities, yet they do not pay towards them.
Which actually makes Ammon more of a bedroom community, right? (more bedrooms than jobs)
Don’t bedroom communities typically struggle with their tax base, it’s difficult for them to really fund neat civic projects?
Well I didn’t mean that Ammon didn’t have any infrastructure, I knew they had some, but it is good to hear that they are making plans to better the living conditions of their citizens.
The last time I checked, the estimates for 2010 population figures (probably way underestimated) were; IF- Closing in on 60K and Ammon pushing 25K. If my math is correct that is an increase of 15K and only for citizens living within the two cities. This is only 3 years away and you still need to add in unincorporated 8B.
My biggest concern is that the current state of the roads either needing repaired, redone, or widened is widely ignored by Ammon and 8B. Hopefully these two entities are planning and saving for when the time comes to take on these improvements.
I can name a list a mile long of road hazards and repairs that need addressed and that includes Idaho Falls as well.
I think that the thing that makes Ammon more than just a bedroom community, and gives them an advantage over communities such as Shelley, is the amount of high volume retailers and businesses they have there. If Ammon didn’t give a bunch of concessions to draw the businesses there in the first place, the tax revenue potential should give them plenty of resources to fund almost anything they need.
Where oh where did my post go?
I do not think we have heard from many Ammonites on their perspective of the Idaho Falls history and relationship.
What do Ammonites think?
So the fire coverage issue is heating up (pun intended). The PR reports a big meeting at Ammon city council tonight, to hear resident opinions if Ammon should stay with IF fire coverage or opt to get covered by the Bonneville fire district.
It would mean about a $120 property tax increase to all Ammon residents, but they are saying they would have increased manpower coverage.
Unfortunately, Ammon’s increased coverage would actually decrease the coverage of everyone else in the fire district if the district then goes ahead and severs their contract with IF, as is expected. So Ammon would gain at many other people’s expense. Is that being a good neighbor?
Then there is the dynamic of Iona’s fire coverage. The Iona mayor said nobody’s talked to him, and he might just opt out of the fire district and contract coverage with IF directly! Doing that would undoubtedly increase Ammon residents annual costs, I wonder if they have factored in that contingency?
Lots of dynamics will play out tonight and in the next week regarding this fire coverage.
In my opinion, this seems to be more of the same angst that Ammonites have against partnering with Idaho Falls, and I still just don’t get the motivations behind it.
Perhaps Mayor Fuhriman should host a half-day summit with all the fire coverage stakeholders, have everyone express their needs and concerns, and try to work out a solution that benefits everyone and is the simplest and cheapest.
Doing so would also set a nice precedent of cooperation for future conflicts.
I’m not sure how much the two cities want to work out any complicated issues at this point. As Ammon had prime real estate developed to be close to the most used Idaho Falls amenities, I think a few lines got drawn in the sand.
Many in Ammon want their own city everything, but most likely have no idea of the limits and costs.
Conversely, many in Ammon don’t want to be independent. I think a lot depends on why people moved to Ammon vs. Idaho Falls.
If people moved to Ammon from I.F., then I suspect some may have a greater desire or need to be more independent. I’m not certain about any of this- merely repeating viewpoints I’ve heard from residents.
My own POV is Ammon can be Ammon because of Idaho Falls. We’ll see if that still holds true after the meeting tonight.
It turns out Ammonites overwhelmingly opposed the fire district proposal. It sounds like more of their same philosophy against higher taxes (about $120 annual increase per homeowner) over better fire protection (and lower homeowner insurance rates).
The Ammon city council said they would look at a larger “metro-style” fire coverage agreement with Idaho Falls and every city west of Ririe.
Even though the site is named after Idaho Falls, Ammonites are invited to our discussions.
ammon should divide itself
half is a poor slum half are the hill rich ppl
I know…isn’t it funny how some people brag about living in Ammon and then you find out WHERE they live Ammon you can’t help but chuckle to yourself. People should stop trying to keep up with the Joneses and just live their lives. Money comes and goes and sure we all need it to survive, but don’t let it consume your life.
America is a nation in serious debt and for some people its all about what you have instead of what kind of person you are. Sure, it might be nice to have a big house on the hill with a Beemer out front next to a 32 foot ski boat, etc etc.,,, but 9 out of 10 times, those people are up to their necks in debt and spend most of their time working their butts off to pay for it all.
I know…..a few of my family members on my wifes side compete with each other just like this. When one buys a new ATV, the other has to buy a better ATV. Then one buys a new camper (when they already had a decent camper), the other goes out and buys a bigger and better camper. It’s been like this back and forth throughout the years and its crazy because both families have so much debt its not even funny.
But me, I’ve got my 9 year old 4×4 and my 30 y/o house thats paid off, and a nice tent to go camping in and a couple of bicycles to get around on. And they ask me “Slim, how can you afford to take so many vacations”? But they know the answer….I don’t have a 1/4th of the debt they have. Because I’m not worried about “appearences”. I’d rather enjoy my life and have the freedom to do what I want to do and go where I want go, instead of having all the shiny new toys in my driveway and all that debt controlling me.
So I say “Ammon shmamon”.
What many Taxes in the city of Ammon are the 3rd lowest in the state. (from what I have been told.) cities do not see very much revenue off of houses anyway. The new stores like Walmart, Target, Edwards and so on. Most of the businesses along Hittt Rd. recieved tax deferrals. So the money coming In is definately not enough to keep up with the money needed to go out. It probably will take a while before The city will see enough tax revenue to not be a “bedroom city” Its very unfortunate because the city of Ammon really could utilize better services. Especially Fire, Police, Parks, and better streets. I do notice that The city also has been letting Older Manufactured homes in the older parts of Ammon which definately doesn’t do any favors for Tax revenue especially when it lowers the house values around It. Ammon definately needs to find its way out of this pickle they are in. Its gonna take a while.
I have a friend who lives in the MacDonald Farm subdivision on Ammon Road. Whenever I drive down that road, the weeds and garbage continue to grow along the east side. When I asked my friend why the city of Ammon didn’t trim the growth on the road on a regular basis, she said they’d just found out that section has not been annexed into Ammon, it’s actually still Bonneville County. Regardless who “”owns” it, it looks pretty rough. True anyone can get out and help pick up garbage, but the issue this last year has been massive weed and shrub growth no one is taking responsibility for.
“There is the perception that Ammon residents are significantly wealthier on average than Idaho Falls residents, …
Wha…?
…the weeds and garbage continue to grow along the east side. When I asked my friend why the city of Ammon didn’t trim the growth on the road on a regular basis,…
No, Joe, the perception you perceive is wrong. Matter of fact? Many low income persons seek rental property in Ammon because it’s cheaper out there. Buying property is also cheaper in Ammon. Paying property taxes is cheaper in Ammon.
How do I know? Because after moving to Bonneville County, the second home I bought was located in Ammon. Great area. I’m on my 4th home, and it, as well as my 3rd home have been in Idaho Falls.
When it comes to homes and business, it all about LOCATION. Right now, Ammon doesn’t have as much to offer as Idaho Falls. How do you, me and everyone know? The little town has great difficulty keeping their little town up-keeped.
Is it a rumor that a local land development company is looking for expansion by purchasing the old Mobile Home Estate properties off 1st Street? If so, what are the time line projections?