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S1304.................by WERK, LANGHORST, STENNETT, BURKETT, SAGNESS, KELLY PROPERTY TAX - HOMEOWNERS EXEMPTION - Amends existing law to provide that the first $150,000 of the market value for assessment purposes of the homestead or 50% of the market value for assessment purposes of the homestead, whichever is the lesser, shall be exempt from property taxation. 01/18 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 01/21 Rpt prt - to Loc Gov
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2008IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1304 BY WERK, LANGHORST, STENNETT, BURKETT, SAGNESS, KELLY 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO PROPERTY EXEMPT FROM TAXATION; TO PROVIDE A SHORT TITLE; AMENDING 3 SECTION 63-602G, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED FIFTY 4 THOUSAND DOLLARS OF THE MARKET VALUE FOR ASSESSMENT PURPOSES OF THE HOME- 5 STEAD OR FIFTY PERCENT OF THE MARKET VALUE FOR ASSESSMENT PURPOSES OF THE 6 HOMESTEAD, WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER, SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM PROPERTY TAXA- 7 TION, TO REVISE DATES AND TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION; DECLARING AN 8 EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING RETROACTIVE APPLICATION. 9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 10 SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Idaho 11 Homeowner's Protection Act." 12 SECTION 2. That Section 63-602G, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 13 amended to read as follows: 14 63-602G. PROPERTY EXEMPT FROM TAXATION -- HOMESTEAD. (1) During the tax 15 year 20068 and each year thereafter, subject to annual adjustment as provided 16 herein, the firstseventy-fiveone hundred fifty thousand dollars ($7150,000) 17 of the market value for assessment purposes of the homestead as that term is 18 defined in section 63-701, Idaho Code, or fifty percent (50%) of the market 19 value for assessment purposes of the homestead as that term is defined in sec- 20 tion 63-701, Idaho Code, whichever is the lesser, shall be exempt from prop- 21 erty taxation. Beginning for tax year 20079, the state tax commission shall 22 publish adjustments to the maximum amount subject to property tax exemption to 23 reflect cost-of-living fluctuations. The adjustments shall effect changes in 24 the amount subject to tax exemption by a percentage equal as near as practica- 25 ble to the annual increase in the Idaho housing price index as determined by 26 the United States office of federal housing enterprise oversight. The state 27 tax commission shall publish the adjustments required by this subsection each 28 and every year the office of federal housing enterprise oversight announces a 29 change in the Idaho housing price index. The adjustments shall be published no 30 later than October 1 of each year and shall be effective for claims filed in 31 and for the following property tax year. The publication of adjustments under 32 this subsection shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter 52, title 67, 33 Idaho Code, but shall be provided to each county and to members of the public 34 upon request and without charge. 35 (2) The exemption allowed by this section may be granted only if: 36 (a) The homestead is owner-occupied and used as the primary dwelling 37 place of the owner as of January 1, provided that in the event the home- 38 stead is owner-occupied after January 1 but before April 15, the owner of 39 the property is entitled to the exemption. The homestead may consist of 40 part of a multidwelling or multipurpose building and shall include all of 41 such dwelling or building except any portion used exclusively for anything 42 other than the primary dwelling of the owner. The presence of an office in 2 1 a homestead, which office is used for multiple purposes, including busi- 2 ness and personal use, shall not prevent the owner from claiming the 3 exemption provided in this section; and 4 (b) The tax commission has certified to the board of county commissioners 5 that all properties in the county which are subject to appraisal by the 6 county assessor have, in fact, been appraised uniformly so as to secure a 7 just valuation for all property within the county; and 8 (c) The owner has certified to the county assessor by April 15 that: 9 (i) He is making application for the exemption allowed by this sec- 10 tion; 11 (ii) That the homestead is his primary dwelling place; and 12 (iii) That he has not made application in any other county for the 13 exemption, and has not made application for the exemption on any 14 other homestead in the county. 15 (d) For the purpose of this section, the definition of "owner" shall be 16 the same definition set forth in section 63-701(7), Idaho Code. 17 When an "owner," pursuant to the provisions of section 63-701(7), 18 Idaho Code, is any person who is the beneficiary of a revocable or irrevo- 19 cable trust, or who is a partner of a limited partnership, a member of a 20 limited liability company, or shareholder of a corporation, he or she may 21 provide proof of the trust, limited partnership, limited liability com- 22 pany, or corporation in the manner set forth in section 63-703(4), Idaho 23 Code. 24 (e) Any owner may request in writing the return of all copies of any doc- 25 uments submitted with the affidavit set forth in section 63-703(4), Idaho 26 Code, that are held by a county assessor, and the copies shall be returned 27 by the county assessor upon submission of the affidavit in proper form. 28 (f) For the purpose of this section, the definition of "primary dwelling 29 place" shall be the same definition set forth in section 63-701(8), Idaho 30 Code. 31 (g) For the purpose of this section, the definition of "occupied" shall 32 be the same definition set forth in section 63-701(6), Idaho Code. 33 (3) An owner need only make application for the exemption described in 34 subsection (1) of this section once, as long as all of the following condi- 35 tions are met: 36 (a) The owner has received the exemption during the previous year as a 37 result of his making a valid application as defined in subsection (2)(c) 38 of this section. 39 (b) The owner or beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appro- 40 priate, still occupies the same homestead for which the owner made appli- 41 cation. 42 (c) The homestead described in subsection (3)(b) of this section is 43 owner-occupied or occupied by a beneficiary, partner, member or share- 44 holder, as appropriate, and used as the primary dwelling place of the 45 owner or beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appropriate, as 46 of January 1; provided however, that in the event the homestead is owner- 47 occupied after January 1, but before April 15, the owner of the property 48 is entitled to the exemption. 49 (4) The exemption allowed by this section must be taken before the reduc- 50 tion in taxes provided by sections 63-701 through 63-710, Idaho Code, is 51 applied. 52 (5) Recovery of property tax exemptions allowed by this section but 53 improperly claimed or approved: 54 (a) Upon discovery of evidence, facts or circumstances indicating any 55 exemption allowed by this section was improperly claimed or approved, the 3 1 county assessor shall decide whether the exemption claimed should have 2 been allowed and if not, notify the taxpayer in writing, assess a recovery 3 of property tax and notify the county treasurer of this assessment. If the 4 county assessor determined that an exemption was improperly approved as a 5 result of county error, the county assessor shall present the discovered 6 evidence, facts or circumstances from the improperly approved exemption to 7 the board of county commissioners, at which time the board may waive a 8 recovery of the property tax and notify such taxpayer in writing. 9 (b) When information indicating that an improper claim for the exemption 10 allowed by this section is discovered by the state tax commission, the 11 state tax commission may disclose this information to the appropriate 12 county assessor, board of county commissioners and county treasurer. 13 Information disclosed to county officials by the state tax commission 14 under this subsection may be used to decide the validity of any entitle- 15 ment to the exemption provided in this section and is not otherwise sub- 16 ject to public disclosure pursuant to chapter 3, title 9, Idaho Code. 17 (c) The assessment and collection of the recovery of property tax must 18 begin within the seven (7) year period beginning the date the assessment 19 notice reflecting the improperly claimed or approved exemption was 20 required to be mailed to the taxpayer. 21 (d) The taxpayer may appeal to the board of county commissioners the 22 decision by the county assessor to assess the recovery of property tax 23 within thirty (30) days of the date the county assessor sent the notice to 24 the taxpayer pursuant to this section. The board may waive the collection 25 of all or part of any costs, late charges and interest, in order to facil- 26 itate the collection of the recovery of the property tax. 27 (e) For purposes of calculating the tax, the amount of the recovered 28 property tax shall be for each year the exemption allowed by this section 29 was improperly claimed or approved, up to a maximum of seven (7) years. 30 The amount of the recovery of property tax shall be calculated using the 31 product of the amount of exempted value for each year multiplied by the 32 levy for that year plus costs, late charges and interest for each year at 33 the rates equal to those provided for delinquent property taxes during 34 that year. 35 (f) Any recovery of property tax shall be due and payable no later than 36 the date provided for property taxes in section 63-903, Idaho Code, and if 37 not timely paid, late charges and interest, beginning the first day of 38 January in the year following the year the county assessor sent the notice 39 to the taxpayer pursuant to this section, shall be calculated at the cur- 40 rent rate provided for property taxes. 41 (g) Recovered property taxes shall be billed, collected and distributed 42 in the same manner as property taxes, except each taxing district or unit 43 shall be notified of the amount of any recovered property taxes included 44 in any distribution. 45 (h) Thirty (30) days after the taxpayer is notified, as provided in sub- 46 section (5)(a) of this section, the assessor shall record a notice of 47 intent to attach a lien. Upon the payment in full of such recovered prop- 48 erty taxes prior to the attachment of the lien as provided in subsection 49 (5)(i) of this section, or upon the successful appeal by the taxpayer, the 50 county assessor shall record a rescission of the intent to attach a lien 51 within seven (7) business days of receiving such payment or within seven 52 (7) business days of the county commissioners' decision granting the 53 appeal. If the real property is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value, 54 prior to the recording of the notice of the intent to attach a lien, the 55 county assessor and treasurer shall cease the recovery of such unpaid 4 1 recovered property tax. 2 (i) Any unpaid recovered property taxes shall become a lien upon the real 3 property in the same manner as provided for property taxes in section 4 63-206, Idaho Code, except such lien shall attach as of the first day of 5 January in the year following the year the county assessor sent the notice 6 to the taxpayer pursuant to this section. 7 (j) For purposes of the limitation provided by section 63-802, Idaho 8 Code, moneys received pursuant to this subsection as recovery of property 9 tax shall be treated as property tax revenue. 10 (6) The legislature declares that this exemption is necessary and just. 11 (7) A homestead, having previously qualified for exemption under this 12 section in the preceding year, shall not lose such qualification due to: the 13 owner's, beneficiary's, partner's, member's or shareholder's absence in the 14 current year by reason of active military service in a designated combat zone, 15 as defined in section 112 of the Internal Revenue Code, or because the home- 16 stead has been leased because the owner, beneficiary, partner, member or 17 shareholder is absent in the current year by reason of active military service 18 in a designated combat zone, as defined in section 112 of the Internal Revenue 19 Code. If an owner fails to timely apply for exemption as required in this sec- 20 tion solely by reason of active duty in a designated combat zone by the owner, 21 beneficiary, partner, member or shareholder, as appropriate, as defined in 22 section 112 of the Internal Revenue Code, and such homestead would have other- 23 wise qualified under this section, then the board of county commissioners of 24 the county in which the homestead is located shall refund property taxes, if 25 previously paid, in an amount equal to the exemption which would otherwise 26 have applied. 27 SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby 28 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its 29 passage and approval, and retroactively to January 1, 2008.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 17517
This legislation protects Idaho's homeowners from excessive
residential property value inflation by increasing the limit of
the homeowner property tax exemption to $150,000.
FISCAL NOTE
This legislation will result in a small positive impact on state
revenues by decreasing payments for the Circuit Breaker program.
Contact
Name: Senator Elliot Werk
Senator David Langhorst
Senator Clint Stennett
Senator Mike Burkett
Senator Dick Sagness
Senator Kate Kelly
Phone: 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1304