The rotunda at the Idaho Capitol in Boise on Jan.17, 2022. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)
House Speaker Mike Moyle is sponsoring a new bill in the Idaho Legislature that seeks to reduce property taxes.
On Monday, Moyle, R-Star, unveiled House Bill 74 in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee.
If passed into law, Moyle’s new bill would send $50 million a year annually – ongoing – to the state’s school district facilities fund to help local schools pay for a portion of new buildings and school renovations that would be paid for using property taxes.
The bill also takes another $50 million in one-time funding and transfers it to the state’s homeowners property tax relief fund to reduce property taxes for homeowners.
In a series of polls and public policy surveys, Idahoans have consistently said the cost of housing and property taxes are among their top issues for the Idaho Legislature to address.
“There’s more to do in property tax relief, but this is a start to get us there,” Moyle said.
Although the Idaho Legislature does not receive or spend money collected from Idaho property taxes, school districts and local governments do. Property taxes pay for school operations and school construction; police, fire and emergency services; libraries; sewers; highways; weed control and more.
Moyle told the House Revenue and Taxation Committee that cutting taxes is part of his strategy to reduce government spending.
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Idaho Legislature has already introduced other proposals for tax cuts
This is the third bill aimed at cutting different types of taxes that the Idaho Legislature has introduced in recent days.
On Thursday, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee introduced House Bill 40, which would reduce Idaho’s corporate and individual income tax rates from 5.695% to 5.3%. House Bill 40 also eliminates the capital gains tax for selling gold and silver and expands the income tax exemption to military pensions.
On Monday, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee introduced House Bill 61, which would increase the sales tax credit on groceries for Idaho taxpayers from $120 a year to $155.
“We try to touch on each of the three tax types and provide relief across the board,” Moyle said Tuesday.
The fiscal notes attached to the three recent tax cut bills total $403 million in reductions to state revenues if all three bills are passed into law.
That’s more than four times the $100 million in tax cuts that Gov. Brad Little proposed in conjunction with his Jan. 6 State of the State address.
Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, supported introducing Moyle’s latest tax cut bill Tuesday, but he wondered if the state can afford the revenue reductions that would come from passing all three tax cuts, plus additional state funding from proposed bills that would allow Idaho families to be reimbursed or receive a tax refund for tuition or fees at private schools or private religious schools.
“I do think that we need to be careful,” Gannon said.
Introducing House Bill 74 clears the way for the bill to return to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee for a full public hearing at an unspecified later date.
The House Revenue and Taxation Committee will not be accepting remote, virtual testimony this year, Chairman David Cannon, R-Blackfoot, said Monday.
Idahoans who are not able to travel to the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, may send emailed testimony to the committee by sending an email to hrev@house.idaho.gov by 4 p.m. the day before a public hearing on a bill.
Cannon said emails should include email testimony in the subject line, include the person’s full name, the legislative district they live in, any groups or organizations they represent, the bill number they would like to provide written testimony over and whether they support or oppose the bill, followed by their written testimony.
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