State Sues Forest Service For Names Counties Need Information To Tax Leaseholders
Idaho Attorney General Alan Lance sued the Forest Service on Tuesday for refus ing to release the names of people with homes on leased federal forest lands.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boise, attempts to secure information that assessors in 21 Idaho counties need to collect what has been estimated as at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes.
The Forest Service, in a complete change of its past policy and in direct contradiction to Bureau of Land Management policy, declined to supply the information late last year on grounds that it was protected under the federal Privacy Act. The information had been provided in the past, Lance said, and is still being provided by the BLM.
“This is a classic case of federal arrogance,” Lance said prior to filing the lawsuit. “This is the public’s land. The public has an absolute right to know who is using it, yet the Forest Service persists with its absurd decisions.”
For years, the Forest Service has routinely provided the names and addresses to 21 Idaho counties - including all North Idaho counties - so the counties could assess property taxes. Owners of cabins on Forest Service land pay Idaho property taxes on the buildings, although the ground underneath them is public.
Lance took the legal action after receiving no formal response to his appeal of the agency’s initial refusal to release the names under the Freedom of Information Act and after hearing nothing from Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck following their discussion of the problem during a private lunch in Boise a week ago.
Although no formal estimate has been made of the money involved in the assessments of cabins and other development on leased Forest Service land, the attorney general said he had received estimates from assessors ranging from $500,000 to several million dollars.
He argued that failure to assess and collect the property tax on those improvements unfairly shifts that financial burden to other property owners in the counties.
“We have a very strong case, and I believe we will prevail,” Lance said. And even if the lawsuit fails, “I have every confidence the Congress of the United States will not tolerate secret leasing of public property.”
He said he as spoken with other western attorneys general and believes they will support Idaho in what he believes if the first legal challenge to the new Forest Service policy.
Lance wants the information for Ada, Adams, Bear Lake, Benewah, Boise, Bonner, Boundary, Caribou, Cassia, Clearwater, Custer, Fremont, Gem, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, Nez Perce, Shoshone and Valley.
, DataTimes