‘There’s No Free Lunch’ For Tax Relief, Batt Warns

Gov. Phil Batt ceded the initiative on further property tax relief to state lawmakers on Wednesday, cautioning that there is no available state tax money to underwrite any state assumption of existing property tax responsibilities.

“Finding massive amounts at the state level for further relief would require gutting whole functions or raising other taxes,” he told lawmakers. “If we don’t choose to raise sales or income taxes, any property tax relief comes at the expense of other classes of property taxpayers.

“In any case, there’s no free lunch,” the governor said.

Batt promised to evaluate whatever options state lawmakers come up with on their own for further tax relief, but he left the impression that the 1995 property tax relief package he guided through the Legislature is working and no major changes are necessary.

In fact, he suggested that rather than looking at the state treasury to further relieve property tax payments, already among the lowest in the nation, policymakers should be looking at what local governments are doing to address public discontent with their primary source of cash.

“Some figures indicate that their budgets have grown faster than those of the state or federal government,” Batt said.

As he did a month ago when he essentially discounted existing schemes for more property tax relief, the governor ticked off the statistics he maintains show the 1995 relief package is working. On top of the cap on annual increases in city and county property tax budgets, the state will pick up $50 million in school district property taxes in the next year.

“My vision for Idaho’s tax system as we move into 1997 is to retain the elements that make it a stable, balanced system, and to hold accountable the people and governments charged with spending those revenues,” Batt said.

The governor also made a point of detailing the $175 million in state tax receipts - over 10 percent - that will be funneled to local governments through revenue sharing - cash that further reduces their reliance on property taxes.

“I just thought we should point it out,” he said, “in order to give us an overall picture of where we stand financially.”