Ada County Commissioners Propose $12 Million in Property Tax Relief

Over the last few days, the Ada County Commissioners have been listening to various agencies throughout the county discuss their proposed budgets for the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

The FY 2022 start date is October 1, 2021, and a vote on the budget itself is expected sometime next month. The commissioners discussed various proposals at several meetings this week, including a debate over salary for elected officials and budgets for various agencies.

One of the proposals was for property tax relief to the tune of $12 million.

Advertisement

The property tax issue has been a major topic of discussion in Ada County. The county saw an increase of approximately 25% from last year.

Idaho Dispatch spoke with Commissioners Rod Beck (R) and Ryan Davidson (R). Both said they are happy that they can help bring some property tax relief to Ada County.

Beck told Idaho Dispatch specifically about his proposal,

Advertisement

That was one of my campaign platforms. I was going to provide property tax relief if I could. And as we got going through the budget, I could see that we could. So, that was the number that we settled on. It was voted on unanimously, by the commission, to provide $12 million in tax relief to the citizens of Ada County.

Beck said that it was one of the largest tax relief proposals ever submitted in Ada County for their budget.

During the commissioner’s meeting, Beck discussed the proposal and asked Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane when Ada County last provided property tax relief. McGrane responded that the 1980 budget was the last time property tax relief was proposed for just over $116 thousand.

Beck said that he felt the property tax relief should be highlighted and that it was a “big deal.” Ada County’s other Commissioner, Kendra Kenyon (D), also voted for the proposal.

Of the $12 million, Beck said that $4 million would come from the American Rescue Plan Act funds and $8 million will come from the Ada County budget. Ada County is receiving approximately $94 million in ARPA funds.

Davidson told Idaho Dispatch that part of that relief was possible because the economy is doing better than people were projecting.

Finally, Davidson also mentioned that there is still money for renters in Ada County, impacted by COVID-19, by going to the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority at bcacha.org.