Letters to the editor: Crapo, taxes

Crapo

In a recent interview, Sen. ‪Crapo contended that President Trump should not have been impeached because “He didn’t even commit a crime.” This is a stunning misunderstanding of the Constitution. As Alexander Hamilton wrote: “... impeachment is for those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.” ‬

‪The fact that our U.S. senator (and a member of the Judiciary Committee, no less) could be so ignorant is yet another dangerous example of the toxicity corrupting and corroding our current leadership.

Ralph Sims, Eagle

Taxes

Once again Mike Moyle and the Republican Party have come up with a solution in search of a problem. The problem is not local government overspending, the problem is taxes on residential property in certain areas of the state. The obvious and only solution is to increase the homeowners exemption, not to give more tax cuts to the rich. And think about a 3% cap on property taxes with a 7% growth rate in the area. Do the math, if there’s a 3% cap something has to get cut and it’s going to be essential services such as schools, public health and first responder fire and police protection no doubt. Do the right thing Idaho legislators and raise the homeowner’s exemption.

Steve Scanlin, Boise

Property tax relief

Personal property tax increases in Ada county, specifically the Bench, has become a critical issue for most of us. I own my townhouse, and since I’m not moving and this was to be my retirement home, I don’t care that my valuation is up 81% in 5 years. The killer is that my property taxes have increased 99% since 2015. I also am basically retired, and really can’t afford 20% increases every year, with no end in sight. I’m no expert, but it sounds like ending the indexing for homeowners in 2016 was a bad idea (that also when a major increase first took place). I’m guessing developers’ lobbyists thought that was a pretty clever way to stick someone else with the “costs.” Has my fair share of infrastructure and school costs really doubled in 5 years? The explosion in property values looks like this year will be another 20% or so. That’s nuts and also unsustainable. We need some relief now.

Chris Rudd, Boise

Property taxes

We need more people to call attention to the escalating tax bills. People are being priced out of their homes.

I think, most of all, the tax collectors and the appraisers need to examine the situation. Maybe the Idaho state Legislature should take a real look at the situation of the real estate taxes. We don’t need to exclude the county tax evaluation board. All the people who are responsible for taxation need to take a hard look at the taxes.Years ago, Idaho studied the taxation according to value. Ad valorem was the term. So do all property owners pay? Does Micron pay property taxes? Has the state and county collected property taxes from the HP site? Do all counties collect taxes for impact sites? Didn’t Idaho implement impact fees? Does Idaho still collect impact fees? We all, without exception, have to be willing to maintain a government. If subdividers are not paying an impact fee, it seems the area where the subdivider is working or developing is not entitled to services of the city or county. But wait, the city of Boise has more than $50 million in its treasury. The urban renewal can be liquidated.

Dean Montgomery, Boise