Committee backs bill shifting burden in property tax appeals, sets daily proration for homestead exemption

BOISE, Idaho — The House Revenue and Taxation Committee voted Thursday to send House Bill 354 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation, adopting a sponsor proposal to (1) shift the burden of proof in some property tax appeals to counties that fail to apply equalization methods and (2) codify a method for daily proration of the homestead (homeowners) exemption when eligibility changes during the tax year.

The bill, introduced by Representative Dustin Manwaring, R-Pocatello, would require counties to demonstrate they kept countywide market-value ratios within a 90–110 range when justifying valuation increases; if a county’s market-value ratio rises more than 10 percent and the county did not use the equalization methods spelled out in code, the burden of proof in an appeal would shift to the county. The bill also specifies a daily-proration calculation using 365 days (366 in leap years) to determine the exempted portion of taxes when homestead status begins or ends midyear.

Supporters said the bill creates uniform rules after the state removed the April 15 application deadline for the homestead exemption in 2020, a change that left counties applying proration differently. Sarah Westbrook, representing the Idaho Association of Counties, said the bill “creates uniformity regarding how homestead exemptions are treated with the roll-on, roll-off component” and described the draft as “implementable” and “fair.” Max Pond, government affairs director for the Idaho Realtors, said the realtors support the bill and thanked counties and committee members for negotiating a compromise.

Ada County’s chief deputy assessor, Brad Smith, submitted email testimony urging the committee to replace daily proration with quarterly proration, saying the proposed daily method would create a “significant administrative burden.” Smith’s written testimony noted Ada County has nearly 140,000 homestead exemptions and that about 20,000 residences change ownership annually, which he said would make daily tracking and owner notification costly. Representative Manwaring told the committee he consulted with county representatives and believes the daily method is the fairest way to keep the calculation budget-neutral in both directions and does not require counties to change existing daily operations but only to base the calculation on a 365/366-day divisor.

Representative John Shepherd moved to recommend the bill to the full House with a due-pass recommendation. After brief remarks in support from Representatives Monks and Ehlers, the committee approved the motion by voice vote; the clerk recorded no roll-call tally in the transcript.

The bill text specifies how to compute a daily tax rate (total levy rate times market value, divided by 365 or 366), and then multiply that daily rate by the number of days a property qualified for the exemption. It also sets timing rules for treating eligibility before and after the second Monday in July and for December notices when tax bills have already been issued.

The committee did not adopt any amendments at the hearing. The bill will advance to the House floor for further consideration.