Homeowner's exemption audit was productive

When I took office in January 2007, there were a lot of things that I wanted to study and change where needed.

One of my main concerns was the way the homeowner’s exemption was administered. One of the commissioners had told me that he had overheard people bragging about how they were getting the exemption although they did not qualify because no one ever checked.

Basically, there was a simple form that people would fill out that asked for very little information. I also found out that our office used minimal information to check whether or not they actually qualified.

After the dust settled and I got a few alligators off my back in other important areas we began to look for a way to make sure that those receiving the exemption actually qualified per the law.

We restructured the homeowner’s exemption form to require a lot more information, including the following questions: Are you registered to vote in Idaho (not required but a good sign if they are)? Do you file an Idaho tax return (if required? Do you have an Idaho driver’s license and are your vehicles registered in Idaho?

Since every Idaho citizen is required to file an Idaho income tax return (unless exempt) we looked for a way to check that.

We asked the Idaho Tax Commission for help and they agreed to do what they could. We sent them the list of the roughly 12,000 people who were receiving the exemption in Bonner County and they began a process of checking those names to see if they filed an income tax return. Since we do not have Social Security numbers they had to do all the checking manually.

There are certain categories of people who are not required to file and we take that into consideration. If a person was filing a return that was one indication that they were residents. We started this process in the spring 2008 and have just recently received the last of the names that were checked. We received batches of names periodically during that time.

We then sent letters to all people who were shown as not filing and asked for more information. After careful consideration of all the facts we made decisions as to whether or not individuals qualified.

We now have the procedure for approval in place so that we will be verifying all new homeowner’s exemptions before they receive the exemption.

The law allows us to back bill, for up to seven years, for property taxes that were not paid because of non-qualification. The Treasurer’s Office worked hand in hand with us and we had the full support of the commissioners’ office.

So far, we have back billed for $272,577.01 in property taxes that were not paid and included penalties and interest.

The other benefit to all Bonner County residents is that those properties will not receive the exemption in the future which helps reduce the tax burden for everyone.

We have been able to do this work with no extra staff and are quite proud of our accomplishment. One of our main goals is to make sure that everyone pays their fair and legal portion of the tax burden.