On Wednesday, Gov. Brad Little signed the GOP’s grossly irresponsible property tax bill, which will not lower property taxes for most residents and potentially harms those most in need.
The legislation had bipartisan opposition in the House and Senate. Many local officials as well as the AARP testified about the damaging impacts House Bill 389 will have. Those concerns went ignored.
“Gov. Little bemoaned ‘unintended’ consequences for seniors, but the GOP designed the bill deliberately to kick certain low-income seniors out of property tax assistance,” said Asst. House Democratic Leader Lauren Necochea.
While this bill also expands circuit breaker assistance slightly, Necochea said it is disconcerting that the legislation pays for this modest increase in support by cutting other people out of the program.
“Our popular circuit breaker program provides much-needed property tax assistance to low-income seniors. We need to increase both the income eligibility level and amount of assistance provided,” she added. “In this bill, if your home value is somewhat above average, you are cut from property tax assistance regardless of how low your income is or how much equity you actually have in the home.”
Per the legislation, the homeowner’s exemption is allowed to creep up by 25%; while the property tax exemption for business equipment jumps up by 150%, going from $100,000 to $250,000. Sen. Melissa Wintrow said these priorities are backward, especially after years of the property tax shifting onto homeowners and away from commercial properties.
If the homeowner’s exemption had not been capped at $100,000 by Republicans in 2016, it would be worth $150,000 in the current year, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission. Home prices continue to grow rapidly. In the last 12 months, home prices in Ada County have grown by 27% and in Canyon County by 42%.
“What a slap in the face to Idahoans who have spent the last year struggling. This legislation does not even cushion homeowners from one year of skyrocketing home prices, let alone the five years of price growth that occurred since the exemption was capped in 2016,” Wintrow said. “The Senate GOP members stated the bill was better than nothing, but Idahoans would have been better off without this disingenuous attempt at providing so-called relief. The Legislature has the power to uncap the exemption, and yet, it continues to add to the burden already carried on the backs of homeowners. It’s truly unforgivable.”
Necochea said the legislation harms cities’ abilities to manage growth as well, creating arbitrary limits that will force cities to choose between cutting vital services, such as emergency response or halting home construction that is desperately needed to address the housing crisis.
“We need to allow for local control, allowing local officials to adjust their service levels within the budget growth restrictions already in statute and according to their residents’ needs,” Necochea said. “Nampa currently needs three new fire stations to meet best practices for emergency response. This bill will prevent rapidly growing areas of Idaho from catching up to standard service levels. This puts Idahoans’ lives at risk.”
“The No. 1 priority for Idahoans this session was property tax relief,” Wintrow added. “But the Legislature waited until the 11th hour, one month after we normally adjourn, to finally address property taxes with a bill that doesn’t do enough, and then, Gov. Little once again proved he doesn’t have the best interest of Idahoans in mind by signing this unacceptable legislation. Once again, the majority party has let down the majority of Idahoans.”