Emilie Ritter Saunders was StateImpact Idaho's multimedia reporter until the project merged with the Boise State Public Radio site in July 2013. She previously worked as the Capitol Bureau Chief for Montana Public Radio and was a Senior Fellow with NPR's Economic Training Project from 2009 until 2010. She graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 2007.
We’re talking this week about tax incentive and exemption transparency. So, we thought it’d be a good idea to create a simple list of what is and is not public information.
Without further ado…
What IS Public Information in Idaho
Estimates of foregone revenue (tax money the state opted not to collect) due to income tax credits
The effectiveness of tax credits and incentives is something StateImpact Idaho has been looking at since we launched back in September. We wanted to better understand how the state views tax incentives and what the return is on that (sometimes risky) investment.
But in Idaho, there is very little public information available when it comes to tax credits. That makes it tough to measure if a particular credit is doing what it was intended to do.
Thirty-seven Idaho counties posted personal income gains in 2010. (Click to enlarge)
The Idaho Department of Labor reports personal income grew in most counties in 2010.
As StateImpactrecently reported, Idaho’s personal income grew 5.4 percent from 2010 to 2011. Now, county-level data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows 37 of Idaho’s 44 counties posted personal income gains in 2010. That’s positive news considering just five counties posted personal income growth back in 2009.
“Most counties continued to lose jobs in 2010 although the average annual wage in all but nine rose as employers began restoring hours cut during the recession and rewarding employees they kept on for handling a heavier workload. Overall, however, business profits rose more than wages, jumping 13 percent statewide compared to a 2.1 percent rise in worker paychecks. Worker wages outperformed business profits in only eight counties – Butte, Camas, Caribou, Custer, Fremont, Latah, Minidoka and Power – and in the case of Camas, Caribou and Power, wages merely declined less than business profits.” – Idaho Department of Labor
As we reported last month, those gains in personal income are due in large part to increases in farm earnings. The health care and professional services industries also contributed to personal income growth. The construction industry posted the biggest earnings losses.
Did you miss anything at StateImpact Idaho this week? Don’t worry, we bundled the five most-read posts in one place. Check them out, and let us know what you think.
Job seekers mingle at a career fair in Meridian, Idaho.
Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March dropped below 8 percent to 7.9 percent. The Idaho Department of Labor reports that’s the first time the state’s jobless rate has dipped below 8 percent in more than two years. Still, almost 62,000 Idahoans are out of work.
This foreclosed home in the Boise suburbs was put up for sale in September.
Idaho Business Reviewreports the number of bank-owned homes for sale in southwest Idaho dropped almost 20 percent from February through the end of March.
The publication cites a recent report from Idaho Data Providers, which says the number of bank owned homes (REOs) dropped from 1,176 to 973 during that time period.
“This fact is worth mentioning since foreclosure sales are still occurring, and the vast majority of properties are going back to the lender, but there haven’t been that many REO sales to account for the decline,” Idaho Data Providers President Charlie Nate said in the report. Continue Reading →
The non-partisan Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy released a report questioning the constitutionality of Idaho’s school funding plan late last week.
Education funding is complicated. It gets even more complex when you throw in jargon. The center’s report uses Idaho-specific funding terms, and we found ourselves often looking for the definitions of those. So, we complied a list of the frequently used phrases and added some explanation.
The definitions come from the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, the Idaho Department of Education and the Legislative Services office.
Maintenance and operation funding (M&O):Â Maintenance and operation expenses include teacher salaries, support staff salaries, utilities, building and equipment repair, grounds keeping, and security. Continue Reading →
Mike Ferguson is the Director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy.
The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy released a report last week questioning the constitutionality of Idaho’s education funding system. Director of the center and former longtime chief state economist Mike Ferguson authored the report. Two of the largest stakeholders involved, the Idaho Department of Education and the Idaho Education Association have yet to weigh in beyond an initial reaction statement.Â
We recently sat down with Ferguson to talk about the report, his findings and where he thinks the state should go from here.Â
Q: Why did you decide to work on this report?
A: My intent going in was to look at the changes that had occurred in education funding since the great recession. In particular, I was aware that there had been a pretty big increase in the use of supplemental override levies. I also was aware that in 2006, property tax funding was swapped for sales tax funding. That’s not a problem in and of itself, but what it did was leave only unequalized levies for doing these supplementals. Continue Reading →
Moxie Java's first store opened in 1988. The Deans purchased the company in 2001.
The most recent trade mission to China organized by the state Department of Commerce and headlined by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter is underway this week.
Computer and electronic products make up the lion’s share of Idaho’s exports to China, but that sector isn’t represented in the lineup of 15 Idaho companies working to explore and strengthen trade ties.
Instead, the companies on this trip represent a range of industries and business objectives, and run the gamut from familiar Idaho companies like Boise Cascade and Melaleuca to Intermountain Auto Recycling, a small after-market auto body parts distributor based in Rigby, Idaho. Continue Reading →
The council has $1.1 million available for one-year grants. The money is from the federal Workforce Investment Act, and it must be matched by participating schools — either through cash or in-kind contributions like staff or facility use.
Kay Vaughn is a senior planner at the Idaho Department of Labor. She says this program is aimed at helping kids stay in school who are most at risk of falling through the cracks. “We don’t want them to fall out,” Vaughn says. “It’s all a matter of giving them a vision and some hope.”
Vaughn says businesses or organizations who want to get involved will help teach students practical skills like how to write a resume and how to interview for a job. There will also be a possibility of job shadowing.
The department has offered this same program for the last couple of years. Vaughn says during the 2009-2010 school year about 300 Idaho high school students participated.
You can find more information about the program here.
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