On Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers demonstrated their continued commitment to restoring fairness to Idaho’s property tax system, and presented multiple proposals to better protect homeowners as home prices rapidly rise.
Sen. Grant Burgoyne, Rep. John Gannon, and Rep. Lauren Necochea, each of whom have done extensive work on the subject, discussed the various pieces of upcoming property tax legislation with members of the media in a virtual news conference.
The Idaho Legislature caved to lobbyists in 2016, and capped the homeowner’s exemption, which had been indexed to rise with market values. The decision dramatically shifted the property tax load away from commercial real estate and onto homeowners, making it a win for big business and a loss for regular Idahoans. Now, in Ada County, resident homeowners pay at least 73% of the property tax burden.
“We must pass legislation to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of property taxes, and only their fair share,” Burgoyne said. “We have been bringing bipartisan bills to reduce property taxes for residents for more than three years and have faced a wall of opposition from some House majority leaders. We must overcome that opposition and deliver meaningful change this year.”
The legislative solutions proposed by the three included:
- A bill to re-index the homeowner’s exemption to housing values, to restore a fair balance of the tax load between commercial and residential property.
- A bill to catch up the Property Tax Reduction program, or circuit breaker, with rising property taxes.
- A bill to revise provisions regarding a tax exemption for new capital investments.
“Property taxes are not like sales or income taxes, where revenue reductions mean less money to spend. When there is less property to tax, local governments raise the levy (percentage rate) on other property – mostly residential — and residential pays more. That’s why we need to add more properties to the system,” Gannon said. “Otherwise residential is just shifting the tax around.”
“Every year, state policies are shifting more and more of the property tax load onto homeowners and away from other types of real estate,” Necochea said. “It is urgent that we adjust our homeowner’s exemption to restore a fair balance to our property taxes.”