Homeowners & Property Tax

Idaho has a homeowner's exemption for owner-occupied homes and manufactured homes that are primary dwellings. The exemption includes the value of your home and up to one acre of land.

The Tax Commission is required by law to recompute the homeowner's exemption limit each year, based on the federal Housing Price Index for Idaho. The agency simply administers what the law says; it's not involved in decision-making. The Index is the same throughout the state and isn't adjusted to reflect housing price changes that vary in different parts of Idaho. That means a taxpayer's home value may increase, but the home is still subject to a lower homeowner's exemption.

If you don't agree that your assessed value reflects the market value of your property on Jan. 1, 2016 (calculated before subtracting the homeowner's exemption), you must file an appeal with your county commissioners by the 4th Monday in June.

If you just have questions about how your value was developed, please call your county assessor before that date.

Value changes don't equal tax changes. Since taxes are based on the budgets of taxing districts, those districts can budget the same amount from property tax from one year to the next, but when property values go down, the levy rate goes up automatically to compensate. If one property's value increases more than others, its taxes go up faster than others. For most taxing districts, budgets are set in August or early September, so final property tax amounts aren't certain until then.

The maximum value of the homeowner's exemption changed from $89,580 for 2015 to a maximum of $94,745 for 2016.

Resources for homeowners

• Property Tax for Homeowners Brochure
• Information on the property tax reduction ("circuit breaker") program
• Information on property tax deferral
• Property tax estimator

History of maximum homeowner's exemption

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Last updated Nov. 24, 2015