Gov. Brad Little announced Wednesday that Idaho ended its fiscal year with a budget surplus of $100 million.
At a press conference in Nampa, Little announced the surplus would go towards property tax relief. He also highlighted House Bill 292, passed by the legislature in March.
“This year, we passed what is going to be an enduring property tax reduction of $200 million. Part of it was in our “Idaho first” plan,” he said.
The bill also earmarked any surplus money from the last fiscal year, which ended on June 30, towards property tax relief. This means qualifying taxpayers in the state will receive around $300 million in relief this year.
House Speaker Mike Moyle, Rep. Jason Monks and Sen. Doug Ricks co-sponsored the bill and were present at the press conference.
“That will not show up in Idaho citizens’ pockets until they get their tax bill,” Little added. “They'll get the bills in November and pay the first half of December.”
“The estimate, what we're figuring is, hopefully around 10 to 13%,” said Ricks. Ricks serves as chairman of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee.
Gov. Little says how much each property taxpayer will receive depends on their taxing district and decisions made locally.
“The state of Idaho collects no property taxes and the state of Idaho spends no property taxes. That's all done at the local level,” House Speaker Moyle added. “In the next couple of weeks, you're going to see all these budget hearings by these locally elected officials setting those budgets. And if they are not careful with their budget decisions, they can suck up a lot of that.”
