Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Tax topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kootenai County board reinstates homeowner tax exemptions after assessor error
Summary
On March 11, 2026, the Kootenai County Board of Equalization voted unanimously to retroactively reinstate homeowner tax exemptions after assessor staff said the exemptions were removed in error following a name-change and a processing error in the assessor's system.
On March 11, 2026, the Kootenai County Board of Equalization voted to reinstate homeowner property tax exemptions that assessor staff said had been removed in error.
Chief Deputy Assessor Ben Croinger told the board that a homeowner exemption for AIN 182589 was deleted after a name change and that staff did not reapply the exemption during subsequent processing. "This homeowner's exemption was removed in error specifically due to a name change that happened," Croinger said, adding that staff requested the exemption be put back on retroactively.
A commissioner moved to reinstate the exemption for AIN 182589; the motion was seconded and carried with both commissioners present voting in favor (Commissioner Aberline: "I"; Chair Matari: "I").
Croinger then explained that a separate set of entries — listed as items 1 through 15, excluding item five — suffered the same problem because of a subrule and a manual reapplication step in the assessor's processing that failed to complete. He asked the board to reinstate those homeowner exemptions retroactively as well. "All of these are the same exact thing. They were homeowners exemptions removed in error," Croinger said.
The board approved a motion to reinstate the exemptions for items 1–15 less item five; the motion was seconded and passed with the same recorded votes (Commissioner Aberline: "I"; Chair Matari: "I").
No members of the public spoke during the meeting's public-comment periods. The board adjourned at 11:32 a.m.
The actions restore homeowner exemption status to the named property (AIN 182589) and to a batch of properties identified on the agenda; the record does not list the full set of parcel numbers for items 1–15 in the transcript. The board's approvals were procedural confirmations of assessor staff requests and did not, in the transcript, include additional changes to policy or procedures.
