Molly Messick was StateImpact Idaho's broadcast reporter until May 2013. Prior to joining StateImpact and Boise State Public Radio, she was a reporter and host for Wyoming Public Radio. She is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
“Whether we’re going to get anything done this year or not, I can’t predict that,” he said.
He was speaking to county leaders, a crowd that has pushed back against the idea of eliminating the tax. Nevertheless, it was a notable statement. The governor and others have made the issue a top priority for this legislative session.
Asked about Otter’s comment today, House Revenue and Taxation Committee chairman Gary Collins (R-Nampa) said discussions on the personal property tax are ongoing. Continue Reading →
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter this morning told a crowd of county officials he’s not sure the Legislature will be able to come up with a plan to eliminate Idaho’s personal property tax.
“Whether we’re going to get anything done this year or not, I can’t predict that,” he said. “There’s probably more options out there than there are legislators.”
Otter spoke at a conference of the Idaho Association of Counties. County leaders and other local officials have been some of the most vocal opponents to doing away with Idaho’s tax on business personal property, given the effect that tax cut could have on local government. The $140 million the tax brings in annually funds local services. Continue Reading →
In Idaho, by contrast, the foreclosure process is unusually short. That’s according to RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist. He says states like Idaho — those that bottomed out quickly in the housing crisis — are the luckier ones.
“Part of the formula for quickly bottoming out was a relatively fast foreclosure process,” he observes. Continue Reading →
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, prominent lawmakers and Idaho’s most powerful business lobby want to phase out or eliminate Idaho’s business personal property tax. Aside from costing a total of $141 million a year, businesses complain that the tax is a nuisance. That’s in part because it’s not always obvious what kinds of office supplies, equipment, decorations and other stuff is taxable – and what isn’t.
To understand this better, let’s look at some common items you might find in one kind of Idaho business: a diner. Can you figure out which of these things are considered “personal property” for tax purposes? Take our quiz. Continue Reading →
The courthouse in Power County, one of the counties that relies most heavily on personal property tax revenue
One of the chief problems with eliminating or phasing out Idaho’s business personal property tax is that it deals a blow to local government. Taxes on real and personal property are a significant revenue source for counties. That same property tax base also supports schools, hospitals, libraries and other services through designated levies.
We’ve recently taken up some of the big questions about Idaho’s business personal property tax, like what it is, and who benefits and who loses if it goes away. Still, it’s hard to fully understand the potential county-level impacts of eliminating the tax without knowing a little bit about how county budgets work. Continue Reading →
Housing data provider RealtyTrac is out with new numbers that show Boise is one of the worst places to buy a foreclosure. That’s not a bad thing.
“Certainly from the perspective of homeowners in that market, it’s a good thing to be on that worst list,” says RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist. “Really what that means is there’s not a big backlog of foreclosure inventory that needs to be sold in that market.”
The ranking is based on a handful of factors in addition to how many foreclosures are available for sale. It looks at the discounts available on foreclosed homes, and how much local foreclosure activity increased or decreased over the last year. Continue Reading →
Gov. Otter advocated eliminating Idaho's business personal property tax in his State of the State address early this month.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter began and ended his talk to the Idaho Chamber Alliance this morning by cheering Chobani, the Greek yogurt manufacturer that opened a plant in Twin Falls last month. But the real subject of his talk was the 2013 legislative session, and his priorities for the months ahead.
One of those priorities is to establish a plan for eliminating Idaho’s business personal property tax. “We have a myriad of options,” the governor said, before appearing to float one of his own. Continue Reading →
Power County Hospital is funded in part by taxpayer support. A good deal of those taxpayer dollars will disappear if lawmakers eliminate Idaho's business personal property tax.
This week, we’re devoting some time to understanding Idaho’s business personal property tax. Ending that tax is a priority for the governor and some of the state’s biggest businesses. But it generates millions for local government. Yesterday, we explained what the personal property tax is. Today, we go to Power County, in eastern Idaho. Local leaders say getting rid of the tax could have serious effects.
Debbie and Joe Giordano, of Powell's Sweet Shoppe in Boise
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter and many of the Idaho Legislature’s Republican leaders are in agreement: something has to happen on the personal property tax this session. And by “something,” they mean a plan to get rid of it. But there’s a problem. The tax generates $140 million dollars each year for local government. In this story, we start at square one: explaining this thing called the personal property tax.
In 2011, more than 53,000 Idaho companies paid the business personal property tax. Half of those businesses paid less than $90. Who stands to benefit from getting rid of the tax? Click around the map to see the top five payers in each county. The darker a county is shaded, the more reliant it is on the personal property tax. Continue reading →
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