The Idaho State Tax Commission offers an online tool every summer to help property owners do some forecasting. But this year the tool won’t be available.
Around mid-June, the commission typically posts its property tax estimator on its website.
“A lot of people like to know what their property taxes might be and they use that to figure out whether they want to appeal their property tax assessment or not,” said Tax Commission spokeswoman Renee Eymann.
She says citizen and business appeals are due by the fourth Monday in June, this year the 26th.
Eymann says the legislature is to blame for the calculator’s absence this summer.
“There was some recent legislation, it was actually the new property tax relief law and that changed the budget and levy process for taxing districts, which made the tax commission unable to get timely and accurate estimates this year,” she said.
That means property owners will have to wait until late summer or fall, after taxing districts set their budgets, to get updated information that will determine their specific tax liability.
Commission Chairman Jeff McCray says he’s disappointed taxpayers won’t have the calculator available this year, but he says he’s happy the state will pass on property tax relief, expected to be more than $200 million in the first year of the program.
Eymann says the commission expects to have its online calculator back next June.
