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1. What is an occupancy tax?

What is an occupancy tax?

Newly constructed and occupied residential, commercial or industrial structures, including manufactured housing, except additions to existing improvement are structures that may be added to the Occupancy roll. These structures are prorated for tax purposes for the portion of the year for which the structure was occupied after January 1st.

Example  

A newly constructed home is built and becomes occupied August 1st.  The home will go on the occupancy roll with the value being prorated from August 1st - December 31st.  An assessment notice for the newly constructed home will be sent out no later than the 3rd Monday in November.

A separate occupancy tax bill will be sent in late December/early January with just the prorated value and tax of the newly constructed structure.

You will also get a tax bill in November for the land and any existing structures, which is a result of the values placed on the property as of January 1st each year that are reflected on the assessment notice sent out each June. This is considered to be the Primary Roll Tax Assessment. 

• Full Value of the Home: $325,000.00 
• Prorated Value
  August to December (Value divided by 12 months multiplied by 4 months) = $108,333.33
  Multiply by the Tax Levy Rate - 0.017412084
   Equals the Occupancy Tax For the Home = $1,886.31

See Idaho Code 63-317

2. Can I see a map of my property?

Can I see a map of my property?

The Assessor's Office maintains plat maps covering all properties in Jefferson county.  Maps are available to view during regular office hours Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding holidays.

The interactive parcel viewer is available on the website. You can access public maps of your street and locate a rough estimate of your boundaries. These maps show aerial views of your property, as well as detailed measurements of its dimensions. Search by parcel owner, address, subdivision, or parcel number. 

3. How are the taxes on my property determined?

How are the taxes on my property determined?

Property taxes are budget driven. This means that all property values could stay stagnant, but property taxes can fluctuate annually based on budgets changing.

Property taxes are the principal source of income for cities, counties and special-purpose districts like fire, schools, library, cemetery and other districts. The county Treasurer sends and collects the tax, then distributes it to these local districts. At the assessor's office, our job is to ensure all property in the county has a fair & equitable market value placed on the assessment roll to ensure the property tax burden is equally distributed among all tax payers. 

Idaho Code 63-205, requires the assessor to assess property values at current market value of the county as of January 1st each year.

Determining Levy Rates

• Each tax district determines its budget at a public hearing. See Idaho Code 63-803
• Each parcel is assessed by mass appraisal techniques to determine their fair market value
• Homeowners (and other) exemptions are subtracted from the gross value
• The total budget dollars requested by each district is divided by the total taxable value in the areas they serve

Taxing District Levy Example

Budget Request divided by taxable property value equals tax rate (levy). 

Example: If a district requests $9,500,000 from $5,495,800,420 in property value, the levy rate is 0.001728

• $9,500,000 / $5,495,800,420 = 0.001728

Properties are generally served by more than one taxing district.  Therefore all the taxing districts serving your property are added together. Geographical areas in each county having a common group of taxing districts, is called a Tax Code Area.

Example:  The levy for a Tax Code Area is shown below, and levies for taxing districts serving your property are added together:

• County                                                                                                                          .002755643
• School                                                                                                                           .004658773
• City                                                                                                                                 .006600852
• Special Dist. (highways, EMS, cemetery, etc.)                                              .001167393
• Total                                                                                                                               .015182661

The total of these levies is multiplied by your taxable value to determine your tax:

                                     Levy = .015182661 = 1.5182661%

• House Value:                                                                                                                 $220,000
• Lot Value:                                                                                                                            40,000
• Total Value:                                                                                                                    $260,000
• Minus Home Owner Exemption (HOE):                                                              (125,000)
• Total Minus HOE:                                                                                                         $135,000
             
• TOTAL TAXABLE VALUE:                                                                                            $135,000
                                      $135,000 X 1.5182661% = $2,049.66 tax|
                                                            Effective tax levy
                                         $2,049.66     /    $260,000    =   0.79%

The collection of unpaid balances owed to certain agencies may be added to your property tax bill. 

The County only has budgeting authority over County departments.  City, school, fire, cemetery, and etc. are their own taxing entity and have authority over their own budgets.  If you have questions regarding an amount charged by a certain taxing district on your property tax bill, please contact that agency. 

For questions regarding your tax bill in general, please contact the treasurer’s office at 208-745-9219.

See Idaho Code 50-1008

4. What does the category on my assessment notice mean?

What does the category on my assessment notice mean?

Categories are used by the Idaho State Tax Commission and the Assessor’s Office to describe different types of property for valuation purposes. Categories can also mean that a property has a tax exemption on certain land or building classifications.  

Category 1: Irrigated Agriculture Land

Irrigated land that is capable of and normally producing harvestable crops that may be located inside or outside the boundaries of a subdivision without restrictions on such use or the boundaries of an incorporated city.

Category 2: Irrigated Grazing Land

Irrigated land that is used for grazing and not normally capable of producing harvestable crops and may be located inside or outside the boundaries of a subdivision without restrictions on such use or the boundaries of an incorporated city.

Category 3: Non-Irrigated Agriculture Land

Non-irrigated land that is capable of and normally producing harvestable crops without man-made irrigation and may be located inside or outside the boundaries of a subdivision without restrictions on such use or the boundaries of an incorporated city.

Category 4: Meadow Land

Land capable of lush production of grass and may be located inside or outside the boundaries of a subdivision without restrictions on such use or the boundaries of an incorporated city.

Category 5: Dry Grazing Land

Land used for grazing and capable of supporting grasses and not normally capable of supporting crops on regular rotation and may be located inside or outside the boundaries of a subdivision without restrictions on such use or the boundaries of an incorporated city.

Category 10: Agriculture home site Land 

Rural non-subdivided land being utilized for home sites with secondary categories 1-9. This land is always land with improvements located on it. 

Category 11: Recreational Land 

Land used for recreational purposes but not individual home sites or in a properly recorded subdivision.

Category 12: Rural Residential Land

Rural land used for residential purposes but not in a properly recorded subdivision.

Category 13: Commercial Land

Land used for commercial purposes but not in a properly recorded subdivision.

Category 14: Rural Industrial Land

Land used for industrial purposes but not in a properly recorded subdivision.

Category 15: Rural Subdivision Land

Rural land used for residential purposes and in a properly recorded subdivision.

Category 16: Rural Commercial Subdivision Land

Land used for commercial purposes and in a properly recorded subdivision.

Category 17: Rural Industrial Subdivision Land

Land used for industrial purposes and in a properly recorded subdivision.

Category 18: Other Land

Land not compatible with other secondary categories.

Category 19: Waste

Public Rights-of-Way including roads, ditches, and canals.

Category 20: City Residential Land

Land used for residential purposes and inside city limits.

Category 21: City Commercial Land

Land used for commercial purposes and inside city limits.

Category 22: City Industrial Land

Land used for industrial purposes and inside city limits.

Category 25: Common Area Land

Common area vacant land not included in individual property assessments.

Category 30: Other Improvements (AKA outbuildings)

Outbuildings, other than residential, located on secondary category 20.

Category 31:  Agriculture Residential Improvement 

Residential dwelling used for residential purposes and located on secondary category 10.

Category 32: Other Improvements (AKA outbuildings)

Outbuildings, other than residential, located on secondary categories 1 through 12 and 15.

Category 33: Recreational Improvements 

Recreational building used in conjunction with recreation but not associated with a home site and located on secondary category 11.

Category 34: Residential Improvement 

Residential dwelling used for residential purposes and located on secondary category 12.

Category 35: Commercial Improvement

Commercial building used for commercial purposes and located on secondary category 13.

Category 36: Industrial Improvement

Industrial building used for industrial purposes and located on secondary category 14.

Category 37: Rural Residential Subdivision Improvement

Residential dwelling used for residential purposes and located on secondary category 15

Category 38: Commercial Improvement

Commercial Building used for commercial purposes and located on secondary category 16.

Category 39: Industrial Improvement

Industrial Building used for industrial purposes and located on secondary category 17.

Category 40: Improvement

Improvements located on secondary category 18.

Category 41: City Residential Improvement

Residential dwelling used for residential purposes and located on secondary category 20.

Category 42: Commercial Improvement

Commercial building used for commercial purposes and located on secondary category 21.

Category 43: Industrial Improvement

Industrial building used for industrial purposes and located on secondary category 22.

Category 45: Utility System Land and Improvements

Locally assessed land and improvements used as utility systems and not under the jurisdiction of the State Tax Commission for appraisal.

Category 46: Manufactured Housing

Structures transportable in one (1) or more sections, built on a permanent chassis, for use with or without permanent foundation located on land under the same ownership as the manufactured home but assessed separate from the land. Include any manufactured home located on land under the same ownership as the manufactured home on which a Statement of Intent to declare as real property has not been filed or has been filed and will become effective the following year.

Category 48: Manufactured Home made into real property

Manufactured housing permanently affixed to land under the same ownership as the manufactured home and on which a Statement of Intent  to declare as real property has been filed and has become effective.

Category 50: Residential Improvement on Leased Land

Improvements used for residential purposes and located on leased land, including railroad rights-of-way under separate ownership, exempt land, or any other land under different ownership than the improvements.

Category 51: Commercial or Industrial Improvements on Leased Land

Improvements used for commercial or industrial purposes and located on leased land, including railroad rights-of way under separate ownership, exempt land, or any other land under different ownership than the improvements.

Category 56: Construction Machinery, Tools and Equipment Personal Property 

Unlicensed equipment such as cranes, tractors, scrapers, and rock crushers, used in the building trade or road construction.

Category 57: Equities in Personal Property purchased from the State.

Personal property purchased from the state under contract.

Category 59: Personal Property - Furniture, Libraries, Art, and Coin Collections

Trade articles used commercially for convenience, decoration, service, storage, including store counters, display racks, typewriters, office machines, surgical and scientific instruments, paintings, books, coin collections, and all such items held for rent or lease.

Category 65: Manufactured Housing

Manufactured housing not designated real property and located on exempt, rented or leased land under separate ownership. 

Category 67: Operating Property

Property assessed and apportioned by the Tax Commission.

Category 68: Personal Property – Other Miscellaneous Machinery, Tools, and Equipment

Unlicensed machinery, tools, and equipment not used in construction, logging, mining, or not used exclusively in agriculture.

Category 69: Recreational Vehicles Personal Property

Unlicensed recreational vehicles.

Category 71: Signs and Signboards Personal Property

Signs and signboards, their bases and supports

Category 81: Exempt Property and Improvements

Category 81 is for county use to keep an inventory of exempt improvements.

5. How does the Assessor determine the value on my property?

How does the Assessor determine the value on my property?

• Buyers and sellers in the real estate market establish the market.  The Assessor's staff researches the market and collects information about properties to estimate a fair market value using mass appraisal techniques.
• The Assessor's Office has no control over tax rates or how much taxes you pay.
• The Assessor uses standard mass appraisal methods, which utilize the three traditional approaches to value (cost, market, and income), to estimate the fair market value of any given property.
• It is important to note that the Assessor is simply measuring the information produced in the market to determine the estimated value.  The economic principles of supply and demand, along with the desires of a willing purchaser and seller of property, determine fair market value. One sale does not make the market. It takes multiples sales, among other cost and economic factors to determine market value.

For more information contact the Assessor's Office.

6. If my assessed home values drop, will my property taxes do the same?

If my assessed home values drop, will my property taxes do the same?

Not necessarily. Property taxes are budget driven from each taxing districts that serves your property. If all of the taxing districts in your properties Tax Code area budget the same amount from property tax from one year to the next, but property values go down in your code area, the levy rate would go up automatically to compensate in order to have enough money to sustain the budgeted needs. 

If your property value dropped, but all of the other property values in your tax code area increased, you may see a decrease in how much property taxes you pay. For example, If all of the taxing districts in your properties Tax Code Area budget the same amount from property tax from one year to the next, but you removed a structure from your property making your value go down, while values go up for all other properties in your code area, the levy rate would go down automatically to compensate because there would be more value than budgeted needs. This is why the Assessor uses mass appraisal valuation methods to establish a fair market value on all property in the county to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of the property tax burden.

7. What is the Homeowner's Property Tax Exemption?

The Homeowner's Exemption reduces the taxable value of your primary residence and up to one acre of land by  50% or up to $125,000, whichever is less.  To qualify, the home must be owner-occupied and be your primary residence more than six months out of the year.  This application is accepted year round and can be found on our website or in the Assessor's Office.

8. Is there a program that can help with paying my property taxes?

Is there a program that can help with paying my property taxes?

Yes! If you're a qualified Idaho homeowner, you might be eligible for the Property Tax Reduction (PTR) program. Applicants must meet the same criteria as the Homeowner’s Exemption for the property.  You could reduce property taxes from $250 to $1,500 on your home and up to one acre of land. This program is income based and is an annual application.

Apply for PTR through your county assessor's office. Read more about PTR in this brochure:

• 2021 Property Tax Reduction Program Brochure

The Veterans Property Tax Reduction benefit reduces property taxes for qualified 100% service-connected disabled veterans. Must have current Homeowner's Exemption on the property.
If you qualify, the property taxes on your home and up to one acre of land may be reduced by as much as $1,500. The program doesn't have an income limit. Annual application.

Apply for Veterans Property Tax Reduction  through your county assessor's office. Read more about Veterans Property Tax Reduction in this brochure:

• Veterans 100% Service-Connected Disability

If you're an Idaho homeowner, you might be eligible for the Idaho Property Tax Deferral (PTD) program. Applicants must meet the same criteria as the Homeowner’s Exemption for the property.  The program lets you postpone paying taxes on your home and up to one acre of land. Annual application.

• You must meet certain conditions of the property tax reduction (PTR) program.
• For the 2021 program, your income for 2020 can't be more than $50,000.
• You must pay the taxes and interest at a later time.

Contact your county assessor's office or call Idaho State Tax Commission  at (208) 334-7736 for more help or questions.  Read more about the Property Tax Deferral Program in this brochure:

• 2021 Property Tax Deferral Program