The commissioners discussed the state’s proposal to do away with the tax during its weekly meeting held on Monday.
“If they take the personal property taxes away from us, it all boils down to the question ‘Will the county have to redo services and in what area?’ Something would have to give,” County Clerk Patty Temple said.
Personal property taxes result from levies placed on property like computers, desks and equipment owned by businesses. For a smaller business, it might average only $40 a year but, for a larger company, it could total thousands of dollars a year.
“Your food processing plants are the ones that will really benefit from this,” Commissioner Kent McClellan said.
The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI) initiated the proposal.
“One of the problems with this is that there’s got to be some type of a tax shift or services have got to be dramatically cut. If you shift from personal property taxes to real property taxes, then the employers are getting a better tax break, but their employees are paying higher taxes on their homes,” Commissioner Kent McClellan said.
Commissioner Sheryl Koyle said that an increase in property taxes could put a strain on low-income residents.
“Those on an extremely fixed budget can’t afford $10, $20 or a $50 increase in property taxes. You have to watch out for everyone and all of your citizens. It’s a Catch 22,” she said.
According to McClellan the Idaho Association of Counties is confident that there will be some kind of a change in personal property taxes.
“It probably won’t take 100 percent of that away from us. They’ll probably revise some of the definitions of what personal property tax really is. None of us knows what the legislature is going to do until they convene and discuss it,” Commissioner Kent McClellan said.
Initially, there were reports that the county would lose only $100,000, and that would be funds traditionally paid by “Mom and Pop” shops. Now commissioners are hearing the county may lose all of its personal property tax revenue.
While the loss wouldn’t devastate Minidoka County, it has the potential to do so to other counties dependent on the personal property taxes of large companies.
“It will harm Caribou County that has Monsanto,” Koyle said. Monsanto is located near Soda Springs.
There remains a lot of unanswered questions, agreed the commissioners, and to answer those questions the state plans to mail a pamphlet to tax payers explaining the situation.
“They said they’d be out by the end of last week. It’s about anything that deals with personal property taxes. It will help explain why we need the tax, and why it has to be replaced. Those brochures are going to be coming,” he said.
The commissioners were also concerned about the upcoming education bill, Proposition Three, scheduled to be voted on next month. Should the proposition be approved, Idaho students will be required to take online courses.
Currently, commissioners provide about $320,000 toward funding county College of Southern Idaho (CSI) students’ tuition fees. Those fees also cover the cost of Minico high school students’ dual credits.
Should the proposal pass, it’s anyone’s guess whether the county will see an increase in its college fund payment, Temple said.
“That hasn’t been adequately addressed, and who’s responsible for those (extra) dual credits. We don’t know what the impact on the counties will be. We don’t know if those online classes will be taken through a community college like CSI or through a vendor. It’s a possibility that it could have an impact on the county,” Temple said.
Initially, the state covered most of the college costs through its state liquor sales tax revenue which today is only around $70,000 a year. The difference is enough to drive somebody to drink, said Commission Chairman Bob Moore.
“I think dual credits are valuable. I just wish the state, when they set that up, had thought it all the way through as far as financing. Originally they had a plan for it to pay for itself, but now they don’t,” he said.
Voters will decide on the initiative on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Temple also announced that she has received a steady stream of mail-in ballots and has also seen a significant number of people vote early. Voters may continue sending in ballots or voting early until 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2.
“I think we have a little over 500 absentee ballots out. They’re coming out to vote,” she said.
