Homeowner’s tax exemption keeping with market trend

Idaho’s homeowner’s exemption from property taxes will actually go down next year.

The change won’t make any difference in taxes to those whose homes are worth less than $202,000, and it may not make much difference even for higher-valued homes, depending on what happens with their assessed values for tax purposes. “If it tracks along with your home’s assessed value going down, it may have no effect,” said Alan Dornfest, property tax policy supervisor for the Idaho State Tax Commission.

What it does mean: The system lawmakers put in place in 2006 to tie the exemption to Idaho property values is working.

When lawmakers raised the homeowner’s exemption from property tax from a maximum of $50,000 to a maximum of $75,000 in 2006, they also tied future changes in the exemption to the Idaho Housing Price Index, which tracks home prices in Idaho. That’s meant it’s gone up substantially in the last few years, hitting a maximum of $104,471 this year, but it also means it’ll go down next year. The Idaho Tax Commission announced that the maximum homeowner’s exemption in 2010 will drop to $101,153.

“The decrease reflects the current state of the real estate market for residential property,” Dornfest said.

The homeowner’s exemption exempts from taxes half the assessed value of the home and up to one acre of land for an owner-occupied home, up to the maximum value. The maximum was first set at $10,000 in 1980, then raised to $50,000 by voter initiative in 1983, where it stayed until 2006.

Dornfest noted that the decrease for 2010 isn’t unexpected; according to the tax commission’s figures, residential property values already have dropped across the state. The first tax bill to be affected by the change will be the one that comes due in December 2010, he noted. “The intent of the Legislature, I think, was to keep it level, basically, with respect to market changes, and I think this just reflects that.”

Wolf tags to be auctioned nationwide

Those commemorative wolf tags that Idaho Fish and Game has authorized to be auctioned off to the highest bidders won’t be offered just to Idahoans – one of the six auctions by nonprofit groups, which will be for Tag No. 1, will take place in North Carolina, and three will be on the Internet, including one on eBay.

The Mule Deer Foundation will have the first auction Sept. 30, with sealed Internet bids, to sell tags Nos. 3 and 8. A day later, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife will hold an auction for tags Nos. 4 and 10. Then, on Oct. 3, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will hold a live auction in Mackay, Idaho, for tags Nos. 5 and 9.

On Oct. 15, the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation will put tag No. 1 up for bid in a live auction at the “Wine, Wheels and Wildlife” event in Lexington, N.C.; and Nov. 15, the Safari Club International, Treasure Valley Chapter, will have tags Nos. 2 and 7 up for bid on eBay.

The commemorative tags are being called “Wolf Conservation Tags,” because proceeds go to wolf conservation and management activities. Because a hunter can have only one wolf tag per calendar year, those who’ve already purchased a regular tag will be allowed to turn it in if they secure one of the special tags. Bidders also must hold 2009 Idaho hunting licenses.

Wood backs ban on texting while driving

Idaho has bipartisan legislation in the works to ban texting while driving, a move roughly two dozen states already have made. Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, proposed similar legislation this year, but now he’s got a high-profile co-sponsor on board: House Transportation Chairwoman JoAn Wood, R-Rigby.

“I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time,” Wood told Eye on Boise. “Maybe it’s because I’m not very good at it anyway – there’s no way that I could do that and drive. I see kids coming out of the high school and doing it, and it really bothers me that they’re on the road and doing it.”

“This issue was a bit under the radar when we brought it up last winter,” Bock said. “But clearly, the time has come to enact legislation that will help drivers realize that it’s neither safe nor smart to text while driving.”

Bock’s has four co-sponsors so far.

He also has legislation in the works to require use of a hands-free device when talking on cell phones while driving, something that’s already the law in Washington. Wood said she hasn’t signed on as a co-sponsor on that one at this point; she plans to look into the issue and confer with other members of the House Transportation Committee.

State parks names new chief

Former Eagle Mayor Nancy Merrill has been named Idaho’s new state parks director. State parks board Chairman Steve Klatt said, “The Board selected Nancy Merrill from among some very qualified candidates and because of her abilities to work collaboratively with diverse groups of people, her genuine enthusiasm for Idaho’s recreational opportunities, and a political acumen with the people who govern this state.” He added, “She will provide the potential benefits of a creative fresh outlook on the troubling aspects of agency budget reductions we are forced to live with.”

Merrill, who co-chaired the task force for expanding Eagle Island State Park, focused on creating recreational opportunities in her city with “extremely limited financial resources,” the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation said. She replaces former director Bob Meinen, who stepped down earlier this year amid health problems.