BLACKFOOT — Two candidates competing for a seat on the Bingham County Commission are making their case in the upcoming May election, each bringing decades of public service experience and distinct visions for how the growing county should manage development, water resources and government accessibility.

Tim Shurtz, a former city council member and firefighter, is challenging incumbent Commissioner Drew Jensen, a farmer and rancher who has served just over a year on the commission.

Shurtz has spent 12 years on the Firth City Council, 17 years as a firefighter and EMT and has spent nearly three decades of his life in community service, including management experience at Idaho Supreme Potatoes.

Shurtz has watched the growth of Bingham County with vested interest. One of his primary concerns is managing the wave of residential growth reshaping rural areas like Shelley and the broader Bingham County. Shurtz says that developers are profiting while leaving taxpayers to absorb the costs of new schools, roads and emergency services.

Shurtz says he can see the writing on the wall with many of these issues, highlighting the Shelley School District’s failed November bond levy as just one of the many problems, despite an urgent need for a new school driven largely due to all of the new housing and population development.

“The general idea is to hold the developers accountable,” Shurtz said. “They come in, they make their profits, sell their homes, do their things and they take their profits and leave. They’re more than welcome to come in, build their homes and make profits, but they need to share that with the community as they build them.”

Shurtz proposes a countywide impact fee, which is an upfront charge to developers that would help fund increased infrastructure needs including water, sewer, streets and emergency services. Shurtz says he understands that current Idaho legislation restricts impact fees from being tied directly to school funding, but said he believes that can be changed.

He also hopes to bring area school and fire districts to the table and into discussions when the county considers zoning and development approvals.

Regarding water, Shurtz argues the county should begin encouraging zero landscaping and gray water systems in new residential developments to reduce strain on the aquifer and protect agricultural users like Bingham County farmers.

Shurtz also outlined a plan to hold regular office hours at senior centers and public libraries in Shelley, Aberdeen and Blackfoot, in an effort to make the commissioner’s office more accessible to residents who may not know they can engage directly with county government.

Jensen is a farmer and rancher with roughly 45 years of agricultural experience. He has served on the Firth School District board for 13 years, directed the Snake River Valley Irrigation board and led the Eastern Idaho Grazing Association as president. With around a year of experience under his current tenure, Jensen still feels there are many things he’d like to try to implement that haven’t gotten accomplished.

Among those unfinished priorities is a push for road easements to be preserved during new construction, allowing future widening of key corridors without costly land acquisition. Jensen said he is also working to establish a county gravel pit in the mountains to reduce fuel costs for maintaining rural roads and has begun work on an agricultural exemption program that has yet to be fully implemented.

Jensen’s campaign is also concerned about incoming growth straining county services, particularly emergency response. Jensen said the volume of new residents has made it difficult to meet emergency response demands and is working to improve coordination between the county and the city of Shelley by attending city council meetings and engaging with local fire and ambulance services.

One of Jensen’s other priorities is to examine whether county employee wages are competitive enough to retain workers, noting some staff hold second jobs to make ends meet.

For more information on the upcoming May election, visit Voteidaho.gov.