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H0070...............................................by REVENUE AND TAXATION
PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION - Amends existing law relating to property tax
exemptions to provide procedures if a county assessor determines an
exemption was improperly approved as a result of a county error and to
provide for waiver of the property tax; to provide that the Board of County
Commissioners may waive the collection of all or part of any costs, late
charges and interest to facilitate the collection of the recovery of
property tax; and to revise procedures for recovering property tax.
01/30 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/31 Rpt prt - to Rev/Tax
02/01 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/02 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/06 3rd rdg - PASSED - 70-0-0
AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barrett, Bayer, Bedke, Bell, Bilbao, Black,
Block, Bock, Boe, Bolz, Brackett, Bradford, Chadderdon, Chavez, Chew,
Clark, Collins, Crane, Durst, Edmunson, Eskridge, Hagedorn, Hart,
Harwood, Henbest, Henderson, Jaquet, Killen, King, Kren, Labrador,
Lake, LeFavour, Loertscher, Luker, Marriott, Mathews, McGeachin,
Mortimer, Moyle, Nielsen, Nonini, Pasley-Stuart, Patrick, Pence,
Raybould, Ring, Ringo, Roberts, Ruchti, Rusche, Sayler, Schaefer,
Shepherd(2), Shepherd(8), Shirley, Shively, Smith(30), Smith(24),
Snodgrass, Stevenson, Thayn, Trail, Vander Woude, Wills, Wood(27),
Wood(35), Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsor - Kren
Title apvd - to Senate
02/07 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Loc Gov
02/14 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/15 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/20 3rd rdg - PASSED - 35-0-0
AYES -- Andreason, Bair, Bastian, Bilyeu, Broadsword, Burkett,
Cameron, Coiner, Corder, Darrington, Davis, Fulcher, Gannon, Geddes,
Goedde, Hammond, Heinrich, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Keough, Langhorst,
Little, Lodge, Malepeai, McGee, McKague, McKenzie, Pearce,
Richardson, Schroeder, Siddoway, Stegner, Stennett, Werk
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsor - Heinrich
Title apvd - to House
02/21 To enrol
02/22 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
02/23 Pres signed
02/26 To Governor
03/02 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 39
Effective: 01/01/07
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-ninth Legislature First Regular Session - 2007
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 70
BY REVENUE AND TAXATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO PROPERTY EXEMPT FROM TAXATION; AMENDING SECTION 63-602G, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO PROVIDE PROCEDURES IF A COUNTY ASSESSOR DETERMINES THAT AN EXEMP-
4 TION WAS IMPROPERLY APPROVED AS A RESULT OF COUNTY ERROR AND TO PROVIDE
5 FOR WAIVER OF THE PROPERTY TAX, TO PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY COM-
6 MISSIONERS MAY WAIVE THE COLLECTION OF ALL OR PART OF ANY COSTS, LATE
7 CHARGES AND INTEREST TO FACILITATE THE COLLECTION OF THE RECOVERY OF PROP-
8 ERTY TAX AND TO REVISE PROCEDURES FOR RECOVERING PROPERTY TAX; DECLARING
9 AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
11 SECTION 1. That Section 63-602G, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
12 amended to read as follows:
13 63-602G. PROPERTY EXEMPT FROM TAXATION -- HOMESTEAD. (1) During the tax
14 year 2006 and each year thereafter, subject to annual adjustment as provided
15 herein, the first seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) of the market value
16 for assessment purposes of the homestead as that term is defined in section
17 63-701, Idaho Code, or fifty percent (50%) of the market value for assessment
18 purposes of the homestead as that term is defined in section 63-701, Idaho
19 Code, whichever is the lesser, shall be exempt from property taxation. Begin-
20 ning for tax year 2007, the state tax commission shall publish adjustments to
21 the maximum amount subject to property tax exemption to reflect cost-of-living
22 fluctuations. The adjustments shall effect changes in the amount subject to
23 tax exemption by a percentage equal as near as practicable to the annual
24 increase in the Idaho housing price index as determined by the United States
25 office of federal housing enterprise oversight. The state tax commission shall
26 publish the adjustments required by this subsection each and every year the
27 office of federal housing enterprise oversight announces a change in the Idaho
28 housing price index. The adjustments shall be published no later than October
29 1 of each year and shall be effective for claims filed in and for the follow-
30 ing property tax year. The publication of adjustments under this subsection
31 shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, but
32 shall be provided to each county and to members of the public upon request and
33 without charge.
34 (2) The exemption allowed by this section may be granted only if:
35 (a) The homestead is owner-occupied and used as the primary dwelling
36 place of the owner as of January 1, provided that in the event the home-
37 stead is owner-occupied after January 1 but before April 15, the owner of
38 the property is entitled to the exemption. The homestead may consist of
39 part of a multidwelling or multipurpose building and shall include all of
40 such dwelling or building except any portion used exclusively for anything
41 other than the primary dwelling of the owner. The presence of an office in
42 a homestead, which office is used for multiple purposes, including busi-
43 ness and personal use, shall not prevent the owner from claiming the
2
1 exemption provided in this section; and
2 (b) The tax commission has certified to the board of county commissioners
3 that all properties in the county which are subject to appraisal by the
4 county assessor have, in fact, been appraised uniformly so as to secure a
5 just valuation for all property within the county; and
6 (c) The owner has certified to the county assessor by April 15 that:
7 (i) He is making application for the exemption allowed by this sec-
8 tion;
9 (ii) That the homestead is his primary dwelling place; and
10 (iii) That he has not made application in any other county for the
11 exemption, and has not made application for the exemption on any
12 other homestead in the county.
13 (d) For the purpose of this section, the definition of "owner" shall be
14 the same definition set forth in section 63-701(7), Idaho Code.
15 When an "owner," pursuant to the provisions of section 63-701(7),
16 Idaho Code, is any person who is the beneficiary of a revocable or irrevo-
17 cable trust, or who is a partner of a limited partnership, a member of a
18 limited liability company, or shareholder of a corporation, he or she may
19 provide proof of the trust, limited partnership, limited liability com-
20 pany, or corporation in the manner set forth in section 63-703(4), Idaho
21 Code.
22 (e) Any owner may request in writing the return of all copies of any doc-
23 uments submitted with the affidavit set forth in section 63-703(4), Idaho
24 Code, that are held by a county assessor, and the copies shall be returned
25 by the county assessor upon submission of the affidavit in proper form.
26 (f) For the purpose of this section, the definition of "primary dwelling
27 place" shall be the same definition set forth in section 63-701(8), Idaho
28 Code.
29 (g) For the purpose of this section, the definition of "occupied" shall
30 be the same definition set forth in section 63-701(6), Idaho Code.
31 (3) An owner need only make application for the exemption described in
32 subsection (1) of this section once, as long as all of the following condi-
33 tions are met:
34 (a) The owner has received the exemption during the previous year as a
35 result of his making a valid application as defined in subsection (2)(c)
36 of this section.
37 (b) The owner or beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appro-
38 priate, still occupies the same homestead for which the owner made appli-
39 cation.
40 (c) The homestead described in subsection (3)(b) of this section is
41 owner-occupied or occupied by a beneficiary, partner, member or share-
42 holder, as appropriate, and used as the primary dwelling place of the
43 owner or beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appropriate, as
44 of January 1; provided however, that in the event the homestead is owner-
45 occupied after January 1, but before April 15, the owner of the property
46 is entitled to the exemption.
47 (4) The exemption allowed by this section must be taken before the reduc-
48 tion in taxes provided by sections 63-701 through 63-710, Idaho Code, is
49 applied.
50 (5) Recovery of property tax exemptions allowed by this section but
51 improperly claimed or approved:
52 (a) Upon discovery of evidence, facts or circumstances indicating any
53 exemption allowed by this section was improperly claimed or approved, the
54 county assessor shall decide whether the exemption claimed should be have
55 been allowed and if not, notify the taxpayer in writing, assess a recovery
3
1 of property tax and notify the county treasurer of this assessment. If the
2 county assessor determined that an exemption was improperly approved as a
3 result of county error, the county assessor shall present the discovered
4 evidence, facts or circumstances from the improperly approved exemption to
5 the board of county commissioners, at which time the board may waive a
6 recovery of the property tax and notify such taxpayer in writing.
7 (b) When information indicating that an improper claim for the exemption
8 allowed by this section is discovered by the state tax commission, the
9 state tax commission may disclose this information to the appropriate
10 county assessor, board of county commissioners and county treasurer.
11 Information disclosed to county officials by the state tax commission
12 under this subsection may be used to decide the validity of any entitle-
13 ment to the exemption provided in this section and is not otherwise sub-
14 ject to public disclosure pursuant to chapter 3, title 9, Idaho Code.
15 (c) The assessment and collection of the recovery of property tax must
16 begin within the seven (7) year period beginning the date the assessment
17 notice reflecting the improperly claimed or approved exemption was
18 required to be mailed to the taxpayer.
19 (d) The taxpayer may appeal to the board of county commissioners the
20 decision by the county assessor to assess the recovery of property tax
21 within thirty (30) days of the date the county assessor sent the notice to
22 the taxpayer pursuant to this section. The board may waive the collection
23 of all or part of any costs, late charges and interest, in order to facil-
24 itate the collection of the recovery of the property tax.
25 (e) A recovery of For purposes of calculating the tax, the amount of the
26 recovered property tax shall be for each year the exemption allowed by
27 this section was improperly claimed or approved, up to the lesser of a
28 maximum of seven (7) years. or until the property was transferred to a
29 bona fide purchaser for value. The amount of the recovery of property tax
30 shall be calculated using the product of the amount of exempted value for
31 each year multiplied by the levy for that year plus costs, late charges
32 and interest for each year at the rates equal to those provided for delin-
33 quent property taxes during that year.
34 (f) Any recovery of property tax shall be due and payable no later than
35 the date provided for property taxes in section 63-903, Idaho Code, and if
36 not timely paid, late charges and interest, beginning the first day of
37 January in the year following the year the county assessor sent the notice
38 to the taxpayer pursuant to this section, shall be calculated at the cur-
39 rent rate provided for property taxes.
40 (g) Recovered property taxes shall be billed, collected and distributed
41 in the same manner as property taxes, except each taxing district or unit
42 shall be notified of the amount of any recovered property taxes included
43 in any distribution.
44 (h) Thirty (30) days after the taxpayer is notified, as provided in sub-
45 section (5)(a) of this section, the assessor shall record a notice of
46 intent to attach a lien. Upon the payment in full of such recovered prop-
47 erty taxes prior to the attachment of the lien as provided in subsection
48 (5)(i) of this section, or upon the successful appeal by the taxpayer, the
49 county assessor shall record a rescission of the intent to attach a lien
50 within seven (7) business days of receiving such payment or within seven
51 (7) business days of the county commissioners' decision granting the
52 appeal. If the real property is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value,
53 prior to the recording of the notice of the intent to attach a lien, the
54 county assessor and treasurer shall cease the recovery of such unpaid
55 recovered property tax.
4
1 (i) Any unpaid recovered property taxes shall become a lien upon the real
2 property in the same manner as provided for property taxes in section
3 63-206, Idaho Code, except such lien shall attach as of the first day of
4 January in the year following the year the county assessor sent the notice
5 to the taxpayer pursuant to this section.
6 (ij) For purposes of the limitation provided by section 63-802, Idaho
7 Code, moneys received pursuant to this subsection as recovery of property
8 tax shall be treated as property tax revenue.
9 (6) The legislature declares that this exemption is necessary and just.
10 (7) A homestead having previously qualified for exemption under this sec-
11 tion in the preceding year, shall not lose such qualification due to: the
12 owner's, beneficiary's, partner's, member's or shareholder's absence in the
13 current year by reason of active military service in a designated combat zone,
14 as defined in section 112 of the Internal Revenue Code, or because the home-
15 stead has been leased because the owner, beneficiary, partner, member or
16 shareholder is absent in the current year by reason of active military service
17 in a designated combat zone, as defined in section 112 of the Internal Revenue
18 Code. If an owner fails to timely apply for exemption as required in this sec-
19 tion solely by reason of active duty in a designated combat zone by the owner,
20 beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appropriate, as defined in
21 section 112 of the Internal Revenue Code, and such homestead would have other-
22 wise qualified under this section, then the board of county commissioners of
23 the county in which the homestead is located shall refund property taxes, if
24 previously paid, in an amount equal to the exemption which would otherwise
25 have applied.
26 SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby
27 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its
28 passage and approval, and retroactively to January 1, 2007.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16766
The purpose of this bill is to enable the County Assessor to
determine whether a homeowners exemption that was claimed
and granted should have been allowed. The legislation also
enables the Board of Commissioners to waive the penalty,
interest, and cost in order to facilitate the collection of
property taxes.
Finally this legislation provides that if the real property
is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value, prior to the
recording of the notice of the intent to attach a lien, the
county assessor and treasurer shall cease the recovery of
unpaid property tax.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact on the state general fund and minimal impact
on political subdivisions.
Contact
Name: Rep. Steve Kren
Rep. Ken Roberts
Phone: 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 70