Idaho Tax Commission staff brief committee on how property tax levies and relief work

Kathleen Ireland, property tax research specialist with the Idaho State Tax Commission, told the Idaho House Revenue and Taxation Committee that assessed values drive levy rates but do not by themselves determine tax bills and that local budgets set the numerator in levy calculations.

Ireland gave a step‑by‑step explanation of Idaho’s assessment and levy process, saying assessors must annually assess parcels to market value with a lien date of Jan. 1 and that assessors perform field inspection on a five‑year reappraisal cycle, reviewing roughly 20% of parcels each year. She said the state Tax Commission performs annual ratio studies using roughly 26,000 sales statewide to check assessment levels.

The nut graf: Ireland emphasized that property tax in Idaho is budget‑driven — taxing districts set budgets that, after removing non‑property revenue, are divided by net taxable value to calculate levy rates — and that recent state relief from House Bill 292 and House Bill 521 altered who ultimately paid property taxes in 2023–24.

Key facts and figures Ireland presented include: the statewide total assessed value in…