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SCR133.....................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
PROPERTY TAX STUDY - Stating findings of the Legislature and authorizing
the Legislative Council to appoint a committee to undertake a study on
property taxation.
03/20 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/21 Rpt prt - to 10th Ord
03/22 10th Ord - ADOPTED - 34-0-1
AYES -- Andreason, Brandt, Broadsword, Bunderson, Burkett(Clark),
Burtenshaw, Cameron, Coiner, Compton, Corder, Darrington, Davis,
Fulcher, Gannon, Geddes, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Keough, Langhorst,
Little, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley, McGee, McKenzie, Pearce, Richardson,
Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk, Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Goedde
Floor Sponsor - Bunderson
Title apvd - to House
03/23 House intro - 1st rdg - to W/M
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE SENATE
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 133
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
2 STATING FINDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE AND AUTHORIZING THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO
3 APPOINT A COMMITTEE TO UNDERTAKE, CONTINUE AND COMPLETE A STUDY OF PROP-
4 ERTY TAXATION.
5 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 WHEREAS, the excessive growth in property taxes is a significant concern
7 in many parts of the state; and
8 WHEREAS, over the past three decades, there has been a cyclic array of
9 property tax capping initiatives, laws and repeals, followed by different leg-
10 islative enactments that, evidenced by the continued public concern, have not
11 identified and resolved core problems of property tax growth; and
12 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that property tax problems and conse-
13 quences are multifaceted and no single purpose law or initiative will solve
14 the diverse problems of excessive growth in property taxes; and
15 WHEREAS, the 2005 Legislative Interim Committee on Property Taxation
16 received significant testimony throughout the state regarding growth in prop-
17 erty taxes and legislation was passed in 2006 addressing certain, but not all,
18 of the concerns; and
19 WHEREAS, resolution of the property tax problem will require additional
20 investigation and evaluation options by the Legislature including, but not
21 limited to:
22 (1) Creation of a new category of revenue sharing that would target part
23 of the annual growth in general fund dollars of approximately twenty per-
24 cent and distribute it to the counties in proportion to each county's
25 share of the total state growth for the same year, measured by individual
26 income tax collections, essentially, returning a portion of the new gen-
27 eral fund revenues that a taxing district's residents produced for that
28 year. This new revenue to local taxing districts, including schools, would
29 be distributed to pay targeted costs of growth and backfill property tax
30 cash flow delay, with each year providing a new distribution calculation.
31 (2) Bring back an improved version of Truth in Taxation. Idaho had this
32 law for three years, in 1992 through 1994, and replaced it with the cur-
33 rent three percent property tax cap. With one extraordinary exception,
34 Idaho is the only state which enacted Truth in Taxation and later repealed
35 it.
36 (3) Consider repealing Section 63-802, Idaho Code, or the three percent
37 budget cap. One size fits all statewide caps cannot solve diverse local
38 problems and needs.
39 (4) Consider local impact fees with a two-thirds vote for schools, cities
40 and counties.
41 (5) Expand the local option sales tax law to cover all counties while
42 still requiring a two-thirds vote with fifty percent of the proceeds dedi-
43 cated for property tax relief.
44 (6) Consider taking the next step in phasing out personal property taxes
2
1 by phasing out furniture and fixtures replaced by sales tax as was simi-
2 larly done in 2001 for agricultural equipment.
3 (7) Establish a mechanism to evaluate the underlying public policy of
4 each tax exemption to ensure that each one is useful and has not outlived
5 its usefulness.
6 (8) Access more complete information regarding taxpayer classifications
7 and amounts paid by classification, thus enabling better analysis of the
8 effects and consequences and thus resulting in development of better pub-
9 lic policy.
10 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
11 sion of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Repre-
12 sentatives concurring therein, that the Legislative Council is authorized to
13 appoint a committee to undertake and complete a study of property taxation
14 with the committee using the work of the 2005 Interim Committee on Property
15 Taxes and the work of the Legislature in 2006 as a starting point. The Legis-
16 lative Council shall determine the number of legislators and membership from
17 each house appointed to the committee and shall authorize the committee to
18 receive input, advice and assistance from interested and affected parties who
19 are not members of the Legislature.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that nonlegislative members of the committee may be
21 appointed by the cochairs of the committee who are appointed by the Legisla-
22 tive Council. Nonlegislative members of the advisory committee shall not be
23 reimbursed from legislative funds for per diem, mileage or other expenses and
24 shall not have voting privileges regarding the committee's recommendations or
25 proposed legislation.
26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall report its findings, rec-
27 ommendations and proposed legislation, if any, to the First Regular Session of
28 the Fifty-ninth Idaho Legislature.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
SCR 133
This legislation authorizes Legislative Council to appoint a
committee to continue the study of property taxes. However, the
scope of this interim committee's study is significantly
different from the scope of the 2005 Interim Committee.
The focus of this interim committee's work will be to take the
information gathered from the valuable work of last year's
interim committee's statewide hearings as well as testimony
received in germane committee meetings this session and identify
and evaluate the core reasons there is excessive growth in
property taxes in many parts of the state and make
recommendations.
As a starting point, the concurrent resolution lists eight (8)
potential core reasons property taxes are increasing rapidly in
many parts of the state. The Interim Committee will consider
these and other potential core reasons and will make
recommendations to the 2007 legislature.
FISCAL NOTE
The fiscal impact is not known because it is subject to the
direction of the Legislative Council.
However, costs should be minimized as statewide public hearings
have already been held last year. Much of the work of this
Interim Committee could be conducted in Boise accompanied by
statewide release of exposure drafts of the Committee's findings
and recommendations for public comment.
Contact
Senator Hal Bunderson (208) 332-1320
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE SCR 133