Updates on Bills Monitored by IAC – Week of March 4, 2024

This morning, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee heard House Bill 625, which would shift the burden of proof from the property owner to the county assessor during Board of Equalizations (BOE) assessment hearings. Hollie Ann Strang (Gem County Assessor), Brian Stender (Canyon County Assessor), Josh Dison (Elmore County Assessor), and Justin Baldwin (Gooding County Assessor) braved the snowy roads to attend the committee and testified in opposition to House Bill 625. The group of assessors asserted a variety of reasons for their opposition. Seth Grigg, IAC’s executive director, also testified in opposition. Grigg’s testimony focused more on how the BOE plays a quasi-judicial function and needs proof provided by the taxpayer and evidence that the assessor is already providing to make a sound, fair decision regarding the equalization of values. The committee voted 9-7 in favor of holding House Bill 625 in committee and also voted 9-7 to return the RS (meant to replace House Bill 625) to the sponsor as well. We appreciate all of the county officials who took the time to reach out to the Revenue and Taxation Committee members over the weekend. Your outreach made the difference.

On Friday, the Joint Finance Appropriation Committee voted to support ITD’s proposed budget, which includes $200M for the final round of local bridge funding and $102M for local maintenance. If your county does road and bridge, please reach out to your legislators on JFAC to express your appreciation for their support and also reach out to other members of the legislature to encourage their continued support for transportation funding. Share examples of how this money has benefited your county over the past few years.

House Bill 620, another bill IAC opposes in its current form, was sent to general orders for amendment considerations. Currently, the bill would create difficulties for counties regarding regulating knives in jails and other county facilities. Representative Jordan Redman, the bill sponsor, told the House State Affairs Committee that he was open to amendments that would help to address these issues.

Don’t forget to check out the IAC Bill Tracker to see other legislation IAC is currently monitoring. The bill tracker includes information about the IAC Legislative Committee’s positions on bills. If you have any questions on these bills or others, please do not hesitate to contact the IAC policy team. We are always happy to help however we can.