Tax Relief Proposed Law Would Lift Property Taxes Funding Community Colleges

A Moscow Republican is drafting a law that would remove property tax funding for Idaho’s community colleges over five years.

Sen. Gary Schroeder, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said his bill would gradually dismantle local taxing districts for North Idaho College and the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.

In theory, the money would be replaced with general tax revenues.

Last year, the Legislature gave a $500,000 tax break to Kootenai County residents, who provide 30percent of NIC’s funding.

Kootenai County and the two southern counties that support CSI are the only counties that support higher education institutions with local property taxes.

NIC interim president Robert Bell said it’s important that county residents help fund the college, which brings more than $41 million into the area’s economy.

However, the current rate is too high, he said.

About 70 percent of NIC students are from Kootenai County. The college receives about $5.9 million in funding from property taxes.

The rest of Idaho’s colleges and universities are supported by the state and other sources, even though many of them also serve a community college role.

Lewis-Clark State College and Boise State University both provide community college services to their surrounding region, Schroeder pointed out.

“Why are the people in Coeur d’Alene taxed to support a community college when people in Lewiston or Boise aren’t?”

Bell warned that if lawmakers phase out property tax support, which is highly unlikely, the state should guarantee local authority over the budget and curriculum.

While North Idaho College trustees and administrators have long sought property tax relief for patrons, there’s anxiety about the timing of Schroeder’s effort. It coincides with a growing sense of vulnerability about the school’s independence.

Coeur d’Alene Sen. Gordon Crow’s suggestion last month that NIC be merged under the administrative wing of the University of Idaho has made some on campus wary of any move that might jeopardize NIC’s autonomy.

“Personally, I think the primary issue is one of control,” said NIC’s Dean of Administration Rolland Jurgens.

“To assume we will keep local control while the money comes out of Boise … you’re dreaming in a fantasy land.’ With a local board of trustees, NIC has been able to preserve music and athletic programs, and funnel support into the library, Board of Trustees Chairwoman Jeanne Givens said. She said she wants to see the details of Schroeder’s bill before coming to any conclusions.

“Would there still be an elected board or would it all be run out of Boise? Those are the governance questions that will have to be answered,” Givens said.

“We’ll have to see the wording and language and the appropriation that would go along with it.”

, DataTimes