Idaho

Bringing the Economy Home

Monthly Archives: February 2013

Ferguson: Idaho Public Schools Are “Big Loser” Under Personal Property Tax Plan

Aaron Kunz / Boise State Public Radio

The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy's Mike Ferguson spoke about the push to repeal Idaho's business personal property tax at a January panel discussion.

Local government and school officials from around the state have been weighing in on the Legislature’s draft bill for phasing out Idaho’s business personal property tax since news of it broke last week — even though the draft has not yet been introduced in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee.

The bill would phase out the tax over six years and provide limited replacement dollars to local units of government, which will collectively lose $141 million if the tax goes away.

The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy’s Mike Ferguson dissects the draft bill with an eye toward education funding in a piece published today.  Public schools will be the “big loser” under the proposal, he says, for three reasons.  Continue Reading

With $140,000 On The Line, Idaho Girl Scouts Try Their Hand At Lobbying

Famous for its potatoes, trout fishing, and blue AstroTurf, Idaho might not have much in common with Hawaii. But here’s one thing: Idaho and Hawaii are the only two states in the country to tax Girl Scout Cookies. Now, some local Scouts are beefing up their sales pitches and learning to lobby.

Continue Reading

Emmett, Idaho Sawmill Closes Its Doors — Again

Molly Messick / StateImpact Idaho

A worker tended a machine that stacks boards not long after the Emerald Forest Products mill began operating again late last spring.

An Emmett, Idaho sawmill funded by $4 million in federal stimulus money and additional capital from private backers stopped operations last week, closing its doors for the second time since 2010.

The mill’s primary owner, Montana entrepreneur Dick Vinson, blamed the recession and inadequate equipment for the first closure. When the Emerald Forest Products mill reopened last June, Vinson predicted it could be profitable within weeks. Today, he declined to explain why the mill last week let its remaining workers go, but he did confirm operations have ceased.  Continue Reading

Business Property Tax Bill Surfaces At The Idaho Legislature

Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact

Thirty-nine days into Idaho’s legislative session, there has yet to be a bill or any public debate over eliminating the business personal property tax. That could soon change.

Chairman of the House Revenue and Tax Committee Gary Collins (R-Nampa) says a bill draft relating to the personal property tax exists, but he won’t divulge details of the proposal.

“There are those that think that’s the path we need to go,” says Collins. “I would say right at this time, there are probably more that say that isn’t the path to go.”

The path he’s referring to is the content of the draft proposal. Collins says the life of the bill depends heavily on the budgeting number that’s expected to be set by the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee tomorrow or early next week. Continue Reading

How Investor-Buyers Shaped One Boise Housing Development Hit Hard In The Downturn

Molly Messick / StateImpact Idaho

A "For Rent" sign stood in front of a home in Charter Pointe last week.

It’s clear that residential real estate investors played a role in the boom and bust in Idaho’s housing market. Realtors tell stories of receiving call after call from out-of-state speculators attracted by Idaho’s high growth rate and low cost of housing.

Yesterday, we reported on a southwest Boise subdivision called Charter Pointe that’s still reeling from the bust, three years after foreclosures peaked in the Boise area.

We mentioned in that piece that in 2005, the development’s first full year of existence, more than a third of the homes in Charter Pointe were owned by people who didn’t live there. Continue Reading

State-Based Health Exchange Wins Conditional Support From 16 House Freshman

Idaho State Legislature

At 31, Rep. Malek is the second-youngest member of the Idaho Legislature.

Sixteen Republican House members, all of them freshmen, this morning announced their support for a bill to create a state-based health insurance exchange. That bill, promoted by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and currently in the Senate, is one of the most controversial of the 2013 session.

The first-year lawmakers constitute a key block of support, says the Idaho Statesman‘s Dan Popkey. The Spokesman-Review’s Betsy Russel reports they may give the exchange plan the votes it needs to pass in the Idaho House. However, the lawmakers’ support of Otter’s exchange bill is contingent on the passage of a companion measure that was introduced in the House Health and Welfare Committee this morning.

Sponsored by freshman Rep. Luke Malek (R-Coeur d’Alene), that bill would increase the Legislature’s oversight of a state-based exchange.  Continue Reading

Boise’s Housing Bust Leaves Unlikely Victims In A Neighborhood That Saw The Worst

Molly Messick / StateImpact Idaho

Ryan, Scott and Tara Arellano, at home in their kitchen

Homeowners, credit intact, still making their monthly mortgage payments.  They’re not who we think of first when we think of the damage brought on by the housing crisis. But in a sprawling, master-planned southwest Boise subdivision called Charter Pointe, they’re a group that has struggled.

More than most cities, Boise felt the brunt of the housing crisis. Home prices dropped by 46 percent.  Foreclosures peaked in the Boise area three years ago, in March of 2010. County records show that a year after that, 90 percent of the houses that sold in Charter Pointe were foreclosures or short sales. We wondered: What is  the story now in a place that bore the weight of collapsing home prices?

  Continue Reading

Idaho Exports Rake In Billions In 2012

Courtesy Empire Airlines

Employees at the Hayden, Idaho based Empire Airlines work inside a plane.

Idaho exports continue to increase. Data from the Idaho Department of Commerce show exports from the Gem State grew 3.5 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Driving the export growth last year were food and agriculture products, transportation equipment, and office and home furnishings. More than $6.1 billion worth of Idaho exports headed to other countries last year. Canada led the way purchasing more than $1.3 billion in Idaho products.

Export growth from 2010 to 2011 was 14 percent, totaling $5.89 billion worth of goods. Continue Reading

A Sales Tax Exemption For Anti-Abortion Resource Clinics Passes The Idaho House

Idaho State Legislature

Rep. Kelley Packer (R-McCammon) is a freshman legislator.

A bill that would give a sales tax exemption to pregnancy resource clinics that don’t offer abortion services has passed the House. In a 58-12 vote, Idaho lawmakers approved Rep. Kelley Packer’s (R-McCammon) proposal.

Packer introduced the bill on behalf of Boise’s Stanton Healthcare, after the organization purchased two ultrasound machines and were charged a sales tax. The organization didn’t think it should be subject to sales tax because it is a non-profit, and because it’s a health related entity, which are largely tax exempt in Idaho.

“That little amount of money to the state creates a huge concern for them,” Packer says. According to Packer, Stanton’s tax bill on the ultrasound machines was $6,000.

Rep. Grant Burgoyne (D-Boise) says the Legislature shouldn’t make policy based on one organization’s misunderstanding of the law. “We’re backing our way into a policy because someone got caught up in a mistake,” Burgoyne says. Continue Reading

About StateImpact

StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »

Economy
Education