Timber property tax bill becomes law

BOISE – Idaho Lt. Gov. Jim Risch has signed HB 126 into law, setting up a new formula for establishing property tax values on privately owned timber land.

The new formula was developed through a collaborative agreement between counties, timber land owners and schools, and is expected to end the big swings in values that have created problems for counties, rural school districts and taxpayers in recent years.

Risch signed the bill into law Tuesday, when he was filling in as acting governor while Gov. Dirk Kempthorne was gone to a National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C.