2006 tax shift adds up to increase

In August 2006, then-Gov. Jim Risch promised Idahoans $260 million in property tax relief.

He did deliver a tax cut to property owners.

But he did not deliver Idahoans an overall tax cut, according to an in-depth Idaho Education News analysis.

Instead, in 2015-16, Idahoans paid an additional $21.7 million for K-12 than they would have paid under the old tax structure — mostly because they now pay a higher sales tax.

By the same token, that also means schools are collecting more tax dollars than they would have received under the pre-2006 tax structure. But there are winners and losers. The losers: 18 of Idaho’s 115 school districts are collecting fewer state and local dollars than they did a decade ago , when the Risch tax shift went into law. The winners: 26 districts are collecting more local property tax dollars than they did a decade ago / Kevin Richert , Idaho Education News. More here .

DFO: Beware of Idaho Republicans promising tax cuts. Thoughts?