Idaho senators kill bill aiming to decrease property taxes, limit cities’ budget growth
Changes to an Idaho bill that aimed to decrease property taxes by limiting local governments’ budget growth couldn’t rescue it from a kill on the Senate floor.
Senators on Thursday rejected the bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, in a narrow 18-17 vote. Several Republican legislators came out opposed during the debate, including Sens. Jeff Agenbroad, R-Nampa, Fred Martin, R-Boise, and President Pro-Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise.
Local elected and public safety officials had decried the measure that would have placed new caps on local governments’ property tax budgets. If the bill had passed, it would have permitted cities and counties to recognize only 80% of new construction and annexation in their property tax budgets. Rice has attributed the levy rate for new construction as the main reason behind property tax spikes.
Local elected officials said the bill would not have substantially reduced property taxes. Instead, they said the bill would have prevented growth from paying for itself, and hampered cities from increasing services — mostly public safety needs — to meet the demand as their populations grow.
Rice said that while his bill doesn’t fix everything, it’s a start to address what he believes is local government budgets relying too much on their residents.
“If you destroy the citizens’ budgets with what you take for government, you have an unsustainable government,” Rice said on the floor Thursday. “And right now, we are systematically, year after year, destroying the budgets of citizens.”
An amendment to the bill increased the limit on construction and annexation — initially, the bill would have allowed governments to recognize only half of new construction and 75% of annexation. Another amendment addressed a problem with a fire district after an official warned of crippling effects.
Nampa Fire Chief Kirk Carpenter said the original bill would have led to a 60% reduction in the fire department’s budget and a potential shutdown of firehouses.
Winder on the Senate floor Thursday pointed to the city of Meridian putting a moratorium on annexation as an example of a negative consequence.
“I think this is the reaction … the bad kind of things that happen,” Winder said. “We do have a significant growth factor going on in our area.”
