Establishing County Valuations

How is property assessed in Idaho?
All taxable property must be assessed at 100% of current market value less exemptions (such as the
Homeowner’s Exemption). The county Assessor must estimate how much an informed and willing buyer would
pay for the property on January 1st of that year. The Assessor generally uses sales data to develop guidelines for
assessing value using mass appraisal methods. The Assessor considers the features that influence what a buyer
would pay for property. Some of these features are size, location, quality, age and condition.
Idaho is a non-disclosure state so the Assessor’s office depends heavily on the public to provide sales
information when property is bought and sold. The more quality information the Assessor’s office can obtain, the
more accurate the assessments will be.
Each year, assessment notices are mailed to all property owners the 1st Monday of June to notify them of
their current assessed value. It is very important for property owners to read this notice care-fully. Any appeals,
corrections or requests for changes must be received by the Assessor’s office by the 4th Monday of June
deadline.

Doesn’t the law limit the amount property value can increase?
The law does not limit the amount a property assessment can increase, but it does limit the amount taxing
districts can increase the portion of their budgets that is funded from property taxes. Since the taxing district’s
budgets are a large factor in determining your tax bill, this does help limit the increase. Each taxing district can
increase their budget by only 3% over the previous year. They can also receive additional funds from new
construction and annexation. The funds from new construction is figured by multiplying the total net taxable value
of the new construction by the previous year’s levy rate.

If my home’s assessed value increases 15 %, does that mean my taxes will increase 15 %? Don’t
local governments have a 3 % cap on their annual budget growth, and if they do, how can my
taxes go up more than 3 %?
The assessed value of your property is not the only factor in determining your property tax liability. Your
value could stay exactly the same and your tax bill could still go up (or down). For example, if every property in
your taxing district increased in value the same amount and the budgets of the taxing districts stayed the same,
you could expect your tax bill to stay the same. Local governments do have a 3% cap plus new construction value
on their budgets. Another example is, your assessed value decreases but a special levy (such as a new school)
is voted in by the public, you may see your tax bill increase. Another reason your tax bill could increase by more
than 3% in one year is the value of other properties in your taxing district decrease while your value stays the
same.
While no one wants to pay more in taxes, there are some good things about the value of your property
increasing. For most people their home is their single most valuable possession and greater value represents
greater equity. So, if you sell your home, it will be worth more, even if you did little or nothing to increase its value.