Miss Knapp told the Kootenai County Board of Equalization on Dec. 10 that she is the deeded owner and occupant of a Rathdrum home and that county staff wrongly removed her homeowner's exemption. "This is not a normal method of taxpayer communication," she told the board, describing a Nov. 26 notice of ineligibility that she said was hand-delivered to her Newman Lake, Washington address rather than mailed to her Idaho residence.

Her statement focused on Idaho Code §63-602(g). She said the assessor’s stamp on her application shows an Aug. 16, 2022 filing and that she meets the statute’s requirements: ownership, occupancy as a primary residence, and a filed application. "I am the deeded owner of the Rathdrum property. I live there as my primary residence," she said, and provided utility bills, a driver’s license and voter registration as evidence.

Chief Deputy Assessor Dyson Savage told the board the assessor’s office initiated the inquiry after a community member raised concerns and then checked records with the State Tax Commission. According to assessor staff, the commission’s report listed the appellant as a nonresident of Idaho for 2022–23 and showed the Rathdrum property had been reported with "0 personal use days," a reporting detail staff said is consistent with full rental reporting. "She did not file in the state of Idaho," the assessor’s representative stated, adding that the commission’s data informed the office’s removal of the exemption going forward.

Treasury staff and several commissioners pressed both sides on procedure and evidence. Chief Deputy Treasurer Jill Smith said her office was not notified through the usual interoffice tracking spreadsheet and that her office first learned of the repay request on Dec. 8 — after the notice was issued. Smith asked why standard mail and interoffice notice were not used.

Board members questioned whether filing Idaho income tax or the commission’s report on ‘‘personal days’’ is dispositive under §63-602(g). Multiple commissioners said the statute does not itself require an Idaho tax filing and asked staff to allow the appellant time to obtain tax and accounting records that might contradict the commission’s report.

The board offered a continuation to let the appellant provide documentation. Commissioners proposed Dec. 17 times and instructed the appellant to coordinate with staff to schedule a follow-up BOE hearing so that the appellant could submit tax returns or accountant statements to rebut the State Tax Commission's data.

The hearing is continued to allow submission of records; no final determination on restoration of the homeowner’s exemption was made at the Dec. 10 meeting.