Property taxes are an amount the property owner pays to the County to be allocated to those taxing districts that cover the location where this property is. Property taxes typically go to pay for schools, city and county governments for law enforcement, fire protection, roads, libraries and more.
Your HOA (homeowner association) dues are not property taxes… and those typically pay for running the HOA and maintenance and improvements of common areas in your community.
In Idaho, Counties levy, or impose, and collect property taxes on homes (including manufactured homes), farmland, commercial and industrial properties.
To figure out how much tax to get from you, the County needs to know how much the budget is for each taxing district (think of that as the whole pie). Then the County cuts up that pie into thousands of pieces (properties) and some are cut bigger and some are cut smaller depending on the value of the property. To figure out how big a piece of pie gets cut, it has to assess the value of each property in the county.
Assessments... and Adjustments
- Assessments: The thing about Idaho… we are a “non-disclosure” state. That means that how much you paid for your property does NOT get reported to State or County and your property assessment is NOT based on what you paid but rather on its actual value. The County will periodically send an tech to your property to determine the value and, for some years, will use a calculation. Your assessment is the value of your home on January 1st based on the market data of the prior year.
- Exemptions: Idaho has various programs to help homeowners reduce their property taxes. By far, the “homeowner’s exemption” is the most used. If you own AND occupy a home as your primary residence, then your home qualifies for this exemption and up to one acre of land. The exemption amount is 50% of the property value up to $125,000. For most properties this means the County takes your assessed value and subtracts $125,000 to determine your taxable value… or your slice of the pie.
- Appealing the Assessment: Your County Assessor will send you an Assessment Notice in early Spring. If you think the County’s assessment amount of your property is wrong because of market data or the property’s condition has changed, you can contact your assessor’s office and talk with your appraiser and contact the County Clerk to file an appeal with the Board of Equalization. There are specific timeframes to make your appeal and it’s clearly indicated on the County’s notice to you.
- Your Real Estate Agent Can Help: If you think your property’s value is different than what the County says, your agent will be happy to do a CMA (comparable market analysis) of your home based upon the market value of other similar homes. If the CMA shows a substantial difference from your assessment, you might want to contact your County Assessor.
- Property Value: Idaho law doesn’t limit increases or decreases to property value from year to year… but Idaho law DOES limit increases in Taxing District budgets (see below).
- Everyone’s Value: If everyone’s value goes up or goes down the same as yours, then there will be no real change in your amount of property taxes, all things staying the same. More people moving into your area will push your property taxes down… more properties carrying the tax burden… more pieces of the pie!
- Your Value: If something happened to your property to change the value, then your piece of the pie could change size; maybe your shop burned down or maybe you added on extra rooms.
Idaho Taxing District Budgets
Taxing districts are various governmental units who receive at least some of their budget funding from property taxes. This picture is from my assessment notice and shows all the taxing districts for my property. Your group of taxing districts can be different… totally depending on your property’s location.
Notice that each taxing district has a phone number you can call for more information or just to let your voice be heard. Also, they show when their public budget hearing is scheduled for so YOU can come provide your input (not that it will change anything… but might make you feel better!).
There is no “cap” on how much your property taxes can increase; however, there is a state law that caps any taxing district’s budget increase to 3% per year. Be aware… if a taxing district didn’t take a full 3% budget increase, the amount of taxes they didn’t collect (by taking only a 2% increase, for example) are called “forgone” tax revenues… AND a taxing district can “clawback” some or all of those “forgone” taxes from years prior. (Kind of a loophole for spendy politicians? Get involved and let YOUR representative know… maybe change the law!)
Other that your property taxes going up by the maximum 3%, you could see an increase if you and your neighbors voted for school levies or something similar. Another way is if a taxing district applies “new construction” or “new annexations” to their budget. (See… it’s important that you stay informed and get involved!)
Levy Rate
The “levy rate” is the number multiplied by your property’s assessed value (minus any exemptions) that shows how much property tax you owe.
You can see in my property tax bill that each taxing district has a levy rate showing how much of my property taxes goes to that specific district. Add up all those individual levy charges and you have the total taxes due (minus any adjustments… like tax relief).
Note that there is no “homeowners exemption” on this example (it would have been subtracted before the “Total Taxable” number).
Your Tax Bill
Each County mails out property tax bills each November (making your holidays even more special?). If you have an impound account as part of your mortgage, the County will send the tax bill to your impound handlers to pay and send you a courtesy copy.
Property taxes are due by December 20th… but you (or your impound folks) can pay one-half by December 20th and the other half by the next June 20th.
Property Tax in the News
Eliminate Property Taxes: Recently Brian Almon of the Gem State Chronicle wrote an article discussing this. Brian takes a deep look at the options; replace property taxes with higher income taxes or state-wide sales tax? Maybe let local governments impose local sales taxes? Bottom Line: Someone has to pay. But maybe the spending side needs fixed too?
More on Ending Property Tax in Idaho: The group Stop Idaho RINOs recently posted this article focusing on the moral angle of property tax… you never truly own your property. They explore the spending side of the issue and offer alternatives for funding the remaining essential services other than via property taxes.
Property Tax Cuts: The Idaho Capital Sun reports that Idaho’s Governor Little signed into law a tax-cut bill that raises total cuts this year (2025) to over $400m.
“The new law reduces Idaho’s state tax revenue by $100 million every year, shifting funds in two ways:
“It transfers $50 million to a state fund to reduce property taxes for Idaho homeowners. And it sends another $50 million to a state fund that helps pay off school districts’ bond issues and levies. Little called the bill a “win-win,” saying it builds on $4.6 billion in recent tax relief by the Legislature and Idaho’s “historic public education investments.””
Voting to Increase Property Taxes: Another article from Brian Almon explains how education is the second largest expenditure of tax dollars… and, on top of that, schools can ask YOU to pay more through local school levies. YOU can have a direct say when you vote for or against these additional funding mechanisms for schools.
Treasure Valley Dave's Thoughts
Wow! That was a deep-dive into Idaho property taxes! One thing I did want to mention; when you are looking on the internet at possibile homes to buy, often it will show you how much the recent property taxes were. You may see two very similar properties but with a big difference in property taxes. Remember that some homes have the homeowner’s exemption applied which shows lower taxes than, for example, a house that is currently used as a rental. If you have any questions on a home that catches your eye, just let us know and we’ll do some digging for you!
When you’re visiting on your fact-finding trip to the Treasure Valley, or when you’re ready to buy your next home (and you now know all about your new property taxes!), just let Mareen and me know when you’re coming and we’ll spend some time together exploring the Treasure Valley or even finding your next home! Just call, text, email or smash that Contact Us button and let’s get connected! Maybe we can do lunch too! 🙌
2 Responses
Great article Dave! Very informative!
Thanks, Rosemary!! I’ve got a little more on this subject coming out soon! It will be on YouTube and here on my website! Stay cool!