Assessments a diversion

Well folks, I think we have all figured out what was behind this spring's outrageous increase in property assessments in Idaho, which (by the way) came from Boise.

If you haven't, this what I think happened. The powers in Boise wanted to raise the sales tax back to 6 percent, but this was an election year. So they needed a diversion without actually raising taxes.

What better way than increasing the property assessments by an enormous amount. When the special session of the Idaho Legislature convened, they raised the sales tax to 6 percent and gave property owners a 3 mil reduction on property taxes, which I suspect will disappear when the Legislature goes into regular session after the election.

What better way to make it appear that they were giving the tax payers something and to come out as the good guys?

Furthermore: I think any increase in sales tax should've been accompanied with a sales tax exemption on food and non alcoholic beverages. Also, the legislature did nothing to limit property assessments.

I feel that the best solution to this problem is to make the true value of a property its assessed value. There have been rumors of an annual 1 percent cap on assessments, but this would be no good unless accompanied by at least a ten year roll-back in property assessments.

A B KELLOGG

Sandpoint