Legislation offers relief on property taxes

BOISE – Homeowners in fast-growing areas need property tax relief, two North Idaho lawmakers said Thursday as they unveiled new legislation.

“When I campaigned last year, property tax was the No. 1 concern of the public,” said Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls. “People would say, ‘Take it easy on my pocketbook.’ “

Two pieces of legislation brought by Henderson and Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, would increase the homeowners’ exemption from property taxes. Both measures were introduced by a House committee and will go to a subcommittee for discussion.

Henderson’s measure targets low-income and elderly property owners. It would expand the exemption to include land and give low-income people over 65 years old a $75,000 exemption instead of the current maximum of $50,000. It also would give that larger exemption to veterans, widows, former prisoners of war and the blind whose income is less than $33,090 a year.

Eskridge’s legislation would increase the exemption from $50,000 to $75,000 for all homeowners.

“The homeowner’s exemption increase is a means of reflecting the inflationary cost of homes,” Eskridge told the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, adding that the average price of a home in the Boundary County area has gone from about $80,000 to more than $130,000 in the last year.

The average price for a home in Sandpoint is now in excess of $180,000, he added.

The bills from Eskridge and Henderson are just part of an influx of legislation on property taxes this session.

Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, has already introduced a bill that would allow Idaho residents 65 and older to defer property tax increases of more than 2 percent in one year. And Coeur d’Alene Rep. George Sayler said he will bring a bill that deals with deferment of property taxes to the Revenue and Taxation Committee some time next week.

“It’s a big issue in Kootenai County,” Sayler said. “There’s no doubt.”

House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet of Ketchum, who also introduced a property tax relief bill Thursday, said homeowners in parts of the state affected by tourism, like Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint, have been hit the hardest.

Her bill would bump up the exemption to $70,000 by including 20 percent of the owner’s land.