County considers impact of loophole in state tax law

ST. ANTHONY, Idaho — Fremont County commissioners are assessing the impact of a court decision forcing them to refund $176,000 to three developers under a loophole in a 2002 state law.

“We’re playing a numbers game right now,” County Clerk Abbie Mace said.

In June, 7th District Judge Brent Moss ruled that developers Alan Ball, Frank VanderSloot and Mike Ferguson were overtaxed on property they proposed developing into subdivisions.

The developers had invoked a 2002 law that Republican Rep. Dell Raybould of Rexburg sponsored to give farmers proposing to sell off cropland for development the ability to have that land continue to be taxed at the lower agricultural rate until construction improvements began.

The State Tax Commission interpreted the law to provide the tax relief to any development proposed on land that was previously farmed.

Raybould has said that was not the intention of the bill, but his attempts to close the loophole have failed. He is still looking for support in the state Senate.

In a county of 12,000, the refunds are substantial, and officials were still trying to figure out how to spread the burden across the other landowners.

The taxing districts in the county have until Wednesday to submit the amounts the intend to collect from property owners for the coming year.