Idaho chamber shuts down Gov. Little’s decision by 28-7 vote
BOISE — The Senate voted Wednesday 28-7 to override the governor’s veto on sweeping property tax legislation. Members of the chamber also voted unanimously to approve a trailer bill that fixes some of the issues the governor had with HB 292.
Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, said of the trailer, “I think it’s a good change that’s brought forward, I think it’s needed.”
The House on Thursday introduced the trailer, voted to pass it and approved an override of the veto of HB 292. It takes a two-thirds majority of both chambers to override a governor’s veto.
HB 292 would use a variety of fund sources to provide homeowner tax relief and provide money to school districts for paying off bonds and levies. One of the funding sources would include 4.5% of sales tax revenue. It would also increase eligibility for the circuit breaker — a tax exemption for low-income homeowners.
In its first year, the legislation would use $74 million in surplus funds and funding left over from the tax rebate fund to provide around $117 million in property tax relief when accounting for adjustments made in the trailer bill, according to the governor’s office.
The trailer addressed an issue with the prioritization of where sales tax revenue would be distributed that could have impacted bonding on several of the state’s transportation projects currently underway. In Gov. Brad Little’s veto message, he included a letter from the Idaho Housing and Finance Association that said up to $400 million in transportation projects could be endangered because of the bill’s potential impact to Idaho’s bond rating.