Poll Finds Idahoans Favor Tax Initiative 56% Of Respondents Back Rankin Plan

Fifty-six percent of Idahoans support the One Percent Initiative, according to a new survey by Boise State University.

Ron Rankin, president of the Idaho State Property Owners Association and author of the initiative, welcomed the news. “I’ve seen how many people are coming over to our side here, and it’s amazing,” he said Thursday.

BSU political science professor Jim Weatherby said Idaho’s political climate appears remarkably similar to 1978, when the first version of the property-tax-limiting One Percent Initiative was passed.

“There is significant support for this initiative at this time, and like 1978, I don’t see any serious organization emerging to oppose this initiative.”

Property taxes have increased 21 percent in the last two years, Weatherby said, and inflation in property values continues to push up assessments. “We still have not dealt with the issue of rising property taxes in growth areas.”

The 1978 initiative never was implemented as written. Instead, the Legislature imposed limits on local government spending. But those limits gradually were repealed over the years, prompting Rankin to propose a new version of the One Percent Initiative in 1992. It failed by a 2-1 margin.

In 1994, Rankin was unable to gather enough signatures to place his next version on the ballot. But this year, he hired a professional signature-gathering firm from Nevada and turned in the necessary signatures last week.

Last year, Gov. Phil Batt pushed through a $40 million property tax cut and a 3 percent cap on most property tax increases, but Rankin said that wasn’t enough.

“His (cap) is full of holes, and ours isn’t,” Rankin said. “We think there’s too much spending going on.”

Rankin’s latest initiative would cap property taxes at 1 percent of the assessed property value after exemptions. It requires the state to pick up all public school funding now covered by property tax - more than $150 million. And it limits increases in local property taxes to the cost of living index used for Social Security benefits.

Idaho would have to either make sharp cuts in state services, or raise other taxes to come up with the money for schools.

Randy Nelson, president of the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho, said another $75 million in property taxes that now support local governments would be eliminated by the initiative. Rankin says the initiative also would cut the $10 million in property taxes that now supports Idaho’s two community colleges.

To replace that much money, Nelson figures Idaho’s sales tax would have to go from 5 percent to 7 percent, or the state’s 8.2 percent income tax would have to rise by almost a third. Some combination of those or extending the sales tax to services would be another option, he said.

Idaho’s income tax is now the 15th highest in the nation. Its sales tax is 24th, Nelson said, and its property tax is 37th.

The BSU survey also found:

65 percent of Idahoans had heard about the One Percent Initiative.

Only 37 percent knew that the initiative requires a shift of public school funding from local property taxes to the state general fund. Forty-nine percent support such a shift.

Asked if Idaho should reduce government spending or increase other taxes if the initiative passes, 56 percent said cut spending, 4 percent suggested increasing other taxes, and 35 percent favored both.

Asked which areas of government spending they’d pick to reduce, large majorities opposed cuts in all the options: health and social services, parks and recreation, education and roads.

Asked which taxes or fees should be increased, 51 percent said user fees, 36 percent said sales tax, and 13 percent said income tax.

“A lot of people believe there is waste in government and government can be reduced without any significant effect on their services,” Weatherby said. “Voters support the concept of shrinking government, but don’t have any clear ideas on where the cuts should be made.”

Gov. Phil Batt has spoken out against the measure, saying voters should realize the magnitude of the cuts or other tax increases they’ll force. “I think that’s too big a change,” he said. “Those property taxes are deductible on federal income tax. The other taxes are not.”

Weatherby said 70 percent of Idaho’s property tax is paid by businesses. If that’s shifted, the Legislature might decide to look at some way to target businesses with new taxes rather than placing the full burden on consumers.

The BSU survey questioned 592 adult Idahoans between Feb. 7 and 29, using random phone dialing in each region of the state.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: One percent property tax limit