Bill That Is Likely To Cut College Funding Stalls

Members of the House tax committee were sympathetic to the complaint that just three counties have to pay extra property tax to support community colleges at Coeur d’Alene and Twin Falls.

But Revenue and Taxation Committee members didn’t know where the money would come from to replace the $11.2 million per year collected in property taxes for the two colleges. So they shuttled legislation from Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, into a subcommittee instead of deciding it Monday.

Bell sponsored a bill that would allow residents of community college districts to opt out of the district through a special election. That means they’d stop paying the property taxes that, in Kootenai County, now make up a third of North Idaho College’s budget.

Bell proposed no method to replace the money. People in her district, which is near the College of Southern Idaho, just want out.

“There’s property tax relief spelled out all over this bill,” she said.

But Rep. Golden Linford, R-Rexburg, said, “There’s a larger issue here - the funding of community colleges.”

He successfully urged putting Bell’s bill into a subcommittee.

, DataTimes