Committee advances bill to standardize homestead-exemption proration, shift burden for certain property-tax appeals

BOISE, March 6 — The House Revenue & Taxation Committee voted to send House Bill 354 to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation after Representative Dustin Manwaring, R‑Pocatello, described a package meant to standardize how counties handle large valuation changes and how homestead exemptions are prorated when eligibility changes during a tax year.

Representative Manwaring said the bill would (1) place into statute a countywide market-value equalization range and require counties to use specified equalization methods to keep overall county ratios within a 90–110 band and (2) adopt a daily-proration method for homestead (homeowners) exemptions when a parcel’s exemption status is added or removed during the year. “If they didn’t keep it within 90 to 110 that burden of proof shifts to the county,” Manwaring told the committee.

The bill text described the daily proration as: take the total levy rate, multiply it by the property’s market value, divide by 365 (or 366 in a leap year) to get a daily tax amount, then multiply by the number of days the exemption applied. The sponsor pointed committee members to provisions that treat changes in eligibility before and after the second Monday in July and to a December clause accounting for tax notices that already have been mailed.

County and industry witnesses told the committee they largely support a negotiated solution but offered implementation concerns. Sarah Westbrook, representing the Idaho Association of Counties, said the association “appreciate[s] the willingness to work together” and described the bill as “implementable” and “fair.” Max Pond, government affairs director for Idaho Realtors, said the association of brokers likewise supports the bill. Brad Smith, chief deputy assessor in Ada County, submitted remote testimony expressing concern that the proposed daily proration could create a substantial administrative burden and suggested a quarterly proration as more manageable; he noted Ada County sees about 20,000 ownership changes per year and that the county currently uses a quarterly method.

Manwaring said the daily-proration formula is intended to be neutral for county budgets and that the bill does not require counties to change other internal methods but does require that any proration calculation be based to a daily rate.

Representative Tim Shepherd moved the committee recommendation to send House Bill 354 to the floor with a due-pass report; the committee approved the motion by voice vote and the chair announced the motion carried.

Supporters said the bill addresses a litigation point created after the Legislature removed the April 15 deadline to apply for the homestead exemption in 2020 and that counties have implemented differing approaches since then. Opponents and one assessor’s office asked the committee to consider alternate proration schedules to reduce administrative work.

The bill now goes to the full House. Committee members who spoke about the bill noted the measure is largely a math and process change rather than a substantive tax‑rate change and encouraged additional technical review during subsequent drafting.