Module 2: Collecting the Property Tax

How the Roll Reaches You

Idaho Code § 31-2102(1) makes the county treasurer the ex officio tax collector, "with duties relating to the collection of tax revenue as prescribed in title 63." Section 63-812 states the job in one sentence: collect the property taxes due, account for them, and remit them to the auditor with the distribution to the proper funds.¹ You set no levy, no value and no exemption. You receive a finished roll and you collect it.

That roll is the end of a long chain. Taxing districts certify their budgets in dollars to the commissioners by the Thursday before the second Monday in September. The Tax Commission certifies operating property values to the auditors by the first Monday of September. The commissioners set the levies, and the auditor computes the tax on every parcel.² Under § 63-811(1) the auditor delivers the property roll and the operating property roll to you "on or before the first Monday of November," which is November 2 in 2026. The roll should arrive with the auditor's sworn statement that the tax was computed to the best of the auditor's knowledge, that the board of equalization's orders were recorded, and that no other change was made. A missing affidavit does not void the roll, but the commissioners must require it, so tell the chair.³

Two more rolls follow. The subsequent roll arrives after the first Monday of December, and the missed roll arrives in the year after the assessment was entered. You bill each within thirty days of delivery, and the deadline for both is June 20. The state-certified relief amounts reach you in November, and the relief section below covers them.

On arrival, check that the roll is complete and ties to the auditor's totals. You are not auditing values. Send levy errors to the commissioners under § 63-810 and value or exemption errors to the assessor and the board of equalization. Every correction comes back to you as an order you carry out.

The Tax Notice: What It Says and Who Gets It

You must mail the notice, or send it electronically if the taxpayer asked, "prior to the fourth Monday of November." In 2026 that means before November 23. A Sunday mailing is a poor plan, so Friday, November 20 is your last sure business day. The notice goes to every taxpayer, or the taxpayer's agent, at the last known post office address, on the form the Tax Commission prescribes.⁴

The statute lists the contents. The notice shows the tax year, the owner's name and address, a description or tax number, the parcel number, full market value for assessment purposes, and the tax due to the state, county, city and school district, with the school tax split into maintenance and operation, bond, supplemental and other. Every other tax is shown separately. It also carries all levies in the tax code area, the date the tax becomes delinquent, any delinquencies against the parcel, whether an interim payment account exists, last year's total, and the combined savings labeled "tax relief appropriated by the Legislature." The payment options must be set off in boldface and a contrasting color on the face of the notice.

Three details trip offices up. First, electronic notice happens only on request, made on a form you provide. Second, a third party holding the account, such as an escrowee, must deliver a statement of the billed taxes to the equitable titleholder by the second Monday of December, which is December 14 this year.⁵ Third, a taxpayer whose state relief pays the whole bill still gets a notice, showing the amount paid and zero owed.⁶ No charge other than property taxes may go on the notice unless the commissioners approved it and the entity has lien authority, can certify the charge to the auditor and collects it the way taxes are collected.

Corrections after the bills go out follow § 63-810. If the commissioners fix a clerical or mathematical levy error after the fourth Monday of November, and more tax is owed, you mail a notice of tax correction before the fourth Monday in May and the new deadline is June 20.⁷

Due Dates, Two Halves and a Sunday

"The property taxes may be paid in full or paid in two (2) halves, the first half on or before December 20 with a grace period extending to June 20 for the second half if the first half is totally paid."

Idaho Code § 63-903(1)

Full payment or the first half is due on or before December 20. A dollar short on the first half makes that half delinquent, and late charges and interest "shall be assessed" on whatever remains of it. The second half gets its June 20 date only "if the first half is totally paid," and § 63-1002(2) says the second half "shall not be considered current if the first one-half is delinquent." The late charge is two percent of the delinquency. Interest is one percent per month, counted from January 1 following the year the lien attached, and it is not charged on collection costs.⁹¹⁰ The statute says "shall." You have no discretion to wave any of it off.

This cycle, both dates land on a Sunday: December 20, 2026 and June 20, 2027. Section 63-903 says nothing about weekends, but a general section in the same title does:

"If the date for filing any such report, claim, tax return, statement or other document or making any such payment falls upon a Saturday, a Sunday, a legal holiday ... such acts shall be considered timely if performed on the next business day."

Idaho Code § 63-217(4)

Section 63-217 reaches any "payment dealing in any way or in any manner whatsoever with taxation" made to the state or a political subdivision. A county property tax payment is one. The general time statutes agree: § 73-108 lists "Every Sunday" as a holiday and § 73-110 lets an act due on a holiday be done the next business day.¹¹ On that reading, a payment made or postmarked Monday, December 21, 2026 is timely, and so is one made or postmarked Monday, June 21, 2027. Say so on the bill and the web page, and have your prosecutor confirm the rule in writing before December.

Taking the Payment: Tender, Cards, Mail and Receipts

Property taxes "must be paid in lawful money of the United States." A county "may allow" payment by debit card, credit card or electronic funds transfer.¹³ The word is "may," so cards are a county choice, and the statute does not say whether the board or the treasurer makes it. Get the commissioners' written approval before a processor goes live. The statute is also silent on fees. I found no section in chapters 9, 10 or 13 of Title 63 that sets, caps or authorizes a convenience fee on a property tax payment. Counties that take cards usually let a processor charge the payer, so settle three things with your prosecutor and the board before you sign: who approves the fee, how the payer sees it before committing, and what no-fee option stays open (cash, check, mail, the counter).

Mail follows § 63-217. A payment sent by United States mail is made on "the date shown by the post office cancellation mark." A postage meter mark is not a cancellation mark. If the envelope arrives without a mark, or the mark is illegible or wrong, the payment still counts as made on the day it was mailed if the sender proves by "competent evidence" that it went into the mail on or before the due date. A registered or certified mail record counts as competent evidence, and so does a designated private delivery service.¹¹ You cannot require that a mailed payment arrive by the 20th. Post it as of the postmark date and keep the envelope, or a scan of it, with the receipt.

Receipts are on request. The record of payment must show the date paid and the amount, and a cancelled check can serve as the receipt for a mailed payment. Section 63-1306(2) puts proof of payment on the taxpayer alone, which does not excuse you from keeping a clean record.¹⁴ When the roll shows a payment you cannot find, you are the one who will be asked.

Partial Payments, Interim Accounts and Payment Plans

"Any portion of a property tax may be paid at any time," says § 63-903(2), and costs, interest and late charges still follow § 63-1002. Take the partial payment. If a taxpayer pays part of the first half by December 20, late charges and interest run on "the remaining first half tax due," not on the whole.

The code writes three payment arrangements, and you can offer those and no others. The first is the interim payment account in § 63-906. Any person can apply to set a schedule of payments of at least $25, or the balance owing, accumulated toward current or future real or personal property tax. You issue a numbered receipt for every deposit. The county pays no interest, the depositor cannot withdraw the money, and the deposits post to the roll when the current tax becomes due. A 1990 Attorney General guideline to two county treasurers read the predecessor section to mean that deposits sit apart until they cover the full tax, so they do not stop late charges and interest from running.¹⁵ A taxpayer who thinks monthly deposits make the bill "on time" needs to hear otherwise in December.

The second is a partial payment on a delinquency. Section 63-1002(1) lets a taxpayer pay any part of it, but the payment is split among costs, collection costs, special assessments, charges, fees, interest, late charges and tax "in the proportion each bears to the total amount due." Suppose the total is $2,300: $2,000 of tax, a $40 late charge, $180 of interest and $80 of costs. A payment of $230 is ten percent of the whole, so $200 posts to the tax roll and $30 goes to the rest. Payment is accepted on the oldest delinquency first.¹⁶

The third is the state deferral program for qualified homeowners. The Tax Commission, not you, approves it. A qualified claimant can defer tax if the home has enough equity, and a lien secures the deferred amount. The Tax Commission reimburses you for deferred tax within a $5,000,000 statewide annual cap.¹⁷ Beyond these three, I found no section in chapters 9, 10 or 13 of Title 63 that lets a treasurer sign an installment agreement that stops late charges and interest. If a taxpayer needs that, the commissioners' hardship powers in the next section are the route.

Cancellation, Refund and Correction: Who Holds the Pen

"The county commissioners may, at any time when in session, cancel property taxes which for any lawful reason should not be collected ..."

Idaho Code § 63-1302(1)

The commissioners cancel. You do not. Section 63-1302 lets them refund a double payment, a double or erroneous assessment, and, when the county was at fault, an excess payment plus the late charge and interest rate the county would charge a delinquent taxpayer, if they set that up by ordinance or resolution. Every cancellation or refund must be recorded in the official minutes and apportioned to the funds and districts. Refunds go out on auditor's warrants or on checks you issue.¹⁸ The Tax Commission's rule adds a boundary: the authority "extends neither to hardship situations" nor "to cancellation of tax resulting from unequal or excessive valuation by the assessor." A value dispute belongs to the board of equalization and the Board of Tax Appeals.

Hardship has two doors. Under § 63-711 the commissioners may cancel tax for undue hardship, or for a casualty loss after the fourth Monday of June, on a sworn statement of the applicant's finances, with the burden on the applicant. An appeal goes to district court within thirty days and does not suspend payment. Under § 63-602AA the board of equalization can grant an exceptional-situations exemption for the current year, if the claim is in by the fourth Monday of June and the board decides by the second Monday of July.¹⁹

The commissioners can also hand you a small tool. Under § 63-1304 they may "by resolution" authorize you to adjust late charges, interest and fees, "not to exceed the designated limit as set by the county commissioners." Without that resolution and a stated dollar limit, you have no authority to adjust anything. When the board does act on a cancellation or adjustment, its clerk delivers a copy of the proceedings, and the copy is "full authority" for you to make the change. The statute then does something unusual for a statute: it protects you. "The tax collector shall assume no personal responsibility as to the legality of the orders but such responsibility shall rest entirely with the county commissioners."²⁰ Keep the certified copy in the parcel file. An oral instruction from a commissioner is not a proceeding.

Money paid under protest is apportioned like other tax money, and the taxpayer has sixty days from payment or seizure to sue for it.²¹ A protest payment does not rescue a taxpayer who skipped the administrative appeal, as V-1 Oil Co. v. County of Bannock shows.²²

Circuit Breaker, Homeowner Relief and Exemptions You Apply

Three state programs change the numbers on a bill, and none of them is your decision. You collect around them.

The property tax reduction, called the circuit breaker, goes to qualifying homeowners who file with the assessor between January 1 and April 15. The assessor builds the reduction roll, the auditor completes it by the fourth Monday of October, and the Tax Commission audits claims and certifies the allowed amounts to the auditor and to you by the third Monday of November, November 16 this year. The state pays you half by December 20 and half by June 20, and the lien stays in place to the extent the reduction does not cover the tax. A bill can change after it goes out if a claim is later disapproved or appealed.²³

The state homeowner property tax relief in § 63-724 works as a line item credit against eligible taxes on homes that hold the homestead exemption on the second Monday of July. The Tax Commission certifies the county amount to the auditor and to you by the third Monday of September and pays it in two halves. You apply the money as a credit. It cannot pay delinquent taxes, penalties, interest or fines. Leftover money goes to the State Treasurer by the fourth Monday in July, July 26 in 2027.²⁴

The homestead exemption itself, § 63-602G, takes the first $125,000 of market value, or fifty percent, whichever is less. The assessor decides who qualifies. You meet it when the assessor sends you a recovery assessment or a penalty "payable to the county treasurer" for an improper claim, which you collect like tax.²⁵ The Idaho Supreme Court held in July 2025 that the 2020 text of the section gave an applicant after January 1 the full-year exemption, and the Attorney General had said the same in 2021.²⁶²⁷ The statute has been amended since. Ask the assessor which version governs the bill you are about to print.

The personal property exemption, § 63-602KK, removes items of $3,000 or less and the first $250,000 of a person's personal property in the county. The state replaces that revenue through you, half by December 20 and half by June 20, and you pay each district in proportion to its certified reduction.²⁸ Module 5 covers the pass-through.

Personal Property, Manufactured Homes and Distraint

Personal property tax is harsher than real property tax, and the statute is blunt about it. If an owner misses the first half, the whole tax becomes due at once, with the late charge and interest on the unpaid first half. The tax is "due and payable upon demand." When the assessor tells you of personal property newly listed on a roll, you may demand immediate payment, computed on last year's levies unless this year's are known, or take a surety bond in place of the demand. An owner who cannot pay by December 20 can ask the commissioners, before delinquency, for an extension of up to four months, and no warrant of distraint issues until it expires. No extension is allowed on the second half.²⁹

The remedy is a warrant of distraint. After a delinquency you issue it to the sheriff, naming the taxpayer and the property and the amount due, and directing a seizure and sale of enough property to pay, with a minimum bid sufficient to cover the tax, interest, late charges and costs. The sheriff serves it as an execution and returns it within ninety days. A sale needs one week's notice by publication or posting in three public places, at public auction for cash. Any excess goes back to the owner or into the county treasury for the commissioners to refund. You may bid for the county only when there is no bid, or the bid is below value, and never when a bid covers the tax and costs.³⁰

Taxes also follow the property out the door. An owner who wants to remove personal property from the county, or sell or repossess it, before all taxes including this year's are paid must pay you first, on demand. For a purchase money lender repossessing one item worth over $20,000, the statute adds a segregation procedure. Moving or repossessing without paying is a misdemeanor, and a conviction can add up to double the tax collectible.³¹ The Attorney General concluded in 1985 that a personal property tax lien outranks an earlier perfected purchase money security interest.³²

Manufactured homes sit in two categories. One that has been declared real property by recorded statement, with the running gear removed and the home on a foundation, is assessed and taxed like site-built housing, and cannot be removed until you certify in writing that taxes due are paid. One that has not is personal property, with the harsher rules above. A new manufactured home is taxed by occupancy tax for the part of the year it is occupied, collected like any other property tax.³³ A 1990 Attorney General guideline reasoned that a mobile home owner's homestead protection does not stop a warrant of distraint for tax, citing the statute that lets a creditor reach exempt property for "State or local taxes."³⁴ Take any warrant that would reach a residence to your prosecutor first.

Operating Property and Special Assessments

Operating property, the property of utilities, railroads and private railcar fleets, is assessed by the State Tax Commission and never by the county assessor.³⁵ The values come to the auditor, the auditor puts the tax on the operating property roll, and you collect it on the same dates and with the same late charges, interest and lien as other property. A few of these accounts can swing a monthly settlement, so learn who they are before December.

Private railcar fleets split by size. A fleet with an Idaho taxable value of $500,000 or more is apportioned to counties and you collect it as operating property. A smaller fleet is levied and collected by the Tax Commission itself and treated as personal property, so it never reaches your roll. Each November 15 the Tax Commission's rule requires you to report to it the taxes due from all private railcar fleets in your county. November 15, 2026 is a Sunday.

Special assessments ride on the property tax machinery. The collection provisions of Title 63 apply to the special taxes of taxing districts, a delinquency includes a special assessment or charge collected like property tax, and any partial payment on a delinquency is split pro rata with the tax.³⁶ The gate is the notice: no charge other than property taxes goes on it without commissioner approval and the entity's lien authority. If a district asks you to place a fee on the bill, get the board's approval and the entity's statutory authority in writing first, and keep both.

Decisions and Opinions That Shape Collection

East Side Highway District v. Kootenai County (Idaho 2025). In July 2022 the county treasurer told the taxing districts the county would keep all collected late charges and interest to cover its collection costs, ending a practice of paying each district its share. The districts sued, and the district court ordered distribution. On July 9, 2025 the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed: late charges and interest must be apportioned to the taxing districts. The county can recover its collection costs, a perpetual lien under § 63-1314, and if those costs do not make the county whole, the Court said, "that is a matter for the County to address with the legislature."³⁷ The 2026 Legislature then wrote the apportionment into §§ 63-903(6), 63-1201 and 63-1202, effective July 1, 2026.³⁸ You collect the late charge and the interest, record them in your monthly settlement and send them through the auditor. Collection costs come out of the separate cost line, not out of the districts' share.

Stender v. SSI Food Services, Inc., 165 Idaho 433, 447 P.3d 881 (2019). A taxpayer paid the first half on one valuation, the Board of Tax Appeals cut the value, the treasurer adjusted the second half, and later a district court raised the value and ordered more tax. The county asked for penalties and interest on the extra tax. The Court said no, because the taxpayer paid every tax when due and was never delinquent, and because the Code gives interest on refunds but none on additional taxes.³⁹ When a value changes after the bills go out, compute from the order and watch the date it makes tax due.

V-1 Oil Co. v. County of Bannock, 97 Idaho 807, 554 P.2d 1304 (1976), and Latah County, described above, mark the boundary between you and the offices that set value and exemptions. Jones v. Flowers, 547 U.S. 220 (2006), is the due process floor for notice before a sale. Attorney General opinions are persuasive and not binding. I found no Idaho appellate decision on a treasurer's duty to accept a postmark, to waive a late charge or to charge a card fee. Module 8 collects the tax-side cases.

Related Organizations and Where to Get Help

Each URL below returned a live page when I checked it on October 13, 2026.

• Idaho Association of County Treasurers (IACT), an affiliate of the Idaho Association of Counties. It holds an annual conference for treasurers and chief deputies, with sessions in 2024 on tax deeds and bankruptcy. Ask your peers how they handle a Sunday due date and a card processor.⁴⁰
• Idaho State Tax Commission, property tax, which writes the rules in IDAPA 35.01.03, prescribes the notice and roll forms, certifies the relief amounts you receive and publishes guides for counties. Its property tax contact page is the first call on the form of a roll or a relief certification.⁴¹
• Idaho Board of Tax Appeals, which hears appeals from county boards of equalization and from Tax Commission decisions, including circuit breaker decisions. Its orders can change a bill after you print it.
• Office of the Administrative Rules Coordinator, where IDAPA 35.01.03 and its amendments are published.
• Idaho Association of Counties (IAC) and the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP): IAC tracks the legislation that rewrites the sections in this module, and ICRMP is the contact for how your bond and crime coverage treat cash handling.⁴²
• Idaho Attorney General, which publishes official opinions on questions of statewide interest.
• Idaho State Treasurer, who receives the excess homeowner relief money you deposit by the fourth Monday in July.
• Your county's prosecuting attorney, who must advise you on request, and who should approve in writing any rule you publish on weekend due dates, postmarks and card fees.

Practice Points for the Officeholder

Deadlines you carry

• Roll arrives from the auditor: on or before the first Monday of November, November 2, 2026. (§ 63-811(1))
• Tax notices in the mail: before the fourth Monday of November, so by Friday, November 20, 2026. (§ 63-902(1))
• Private railcar fleet report to the Tax Commission: November 15, a Sunday in 2026. (IDAPA 35.01.03.415.02)
• Tax Commission certifies circuit breaker amounts to you: third Monday of November, November 16, 2026. (§ 63-707(4))
• First half or full tax due December 20, 2026, a Sunday. Monday, December 21 is timely. State relief and replacement money is due to you by December 20. (§§ 63-903(1), 63-217(4), 63-709, 63-724(6), 63-602KK(4)(b))
• Monthly settlement with the auditor under oath: the first Monday of each month except the second Monday of January and July. December 7, 2026; January 11, February 1, March 1, April 5, May 3, June 7 and July 12, 2027. (§ 63-1201)
• Notice of tax correction after a late levy fix: before the fourth Monday in May, so by Friday, May 21, 2027. (§ 63-810(1)(b))
• Second half due June 20, 2027, a Sunday. Monday, June 21 is timely. (§§ 63-903(1), 63-217(4))
• Second Monday in July, July 12, 2027: homestead status date for state homeowner relief. Fourth Monday in July, July 26: deposit excess relief money with the State Treasurer. (§ 63-724)

Records you keep

• A certified copy of every commissioner order that cancels, refunds or adjusts tax, in the parcel file. (§ 63-1303)
• The § 63-1304 resolution and its dollar limit, if the board passed one.
• Numbered interim payment account receipts. (§ 63-906(1))
• Each warrant of distraint and its return, for two years after the return. (§ 63-1012(2))
• Receipt records with date and amount. Duplicate receipts may be destroyed at ten years if the data lives elsewhere. (§§ 63-905, 63-902(7))
• Envelopes or scans for mailed payments near a due date, and the written weekend and postmark rule your prosecutor approved.
• The processor contract, board approval and fee schedule for cards and e-checks.⁴³

What the auditor and the board will ask

• Do your receipts for the month tie to the sworn settlement? (§ 63-1201)⁴⁴
• Where is the commissioner order behind each cancellation or refund, and who approved the apportionment? (§§ 63-1302, 63-1303)
• Who authorized each removed late charge or interest charge, and under what limit? (§ 63-1304)
• Where did the late charges and interest go? (§ 63-903(6); East Side)
• What does the card processor charge residents, and who approved it?

Where officeholders get into trouble

• Waiving a late charge or interest without a § 63-1304 resolution.
• Holding protest payments or late charges in a county account instead of apportioning them. (§§ 63-1308, 63-903(6))
• Rejecting a Monday postmark on a Sunday due date, or taking late payments without the rule to support it.
• Refusing a partial payment of current tax or letting a taxpayer choose which year a delinquency payment covers. (§§ 63-903(2), 63-1002(2))
• Printing a non-tax charge on the notice without board approval. (§ 63-902(11))
• Letting personal property leave the county or be repossessed with taxes unpaid. (§ 63-1014)
• Ignoring a Tax Commission order or rule. A county officer who willfully neglects a revenue-law duty may be suspended and removed.⁴⁵⁴⁶

Whom to call

• Your prosecuting attorney, on any decision that departs from a plain reading of Title 63.
• The Tax Commission property tax staff, on rolls, notices, rules and relief certifications.
• IACT, for how other treasurers handle the same counter question. ICRMP, for coverage. IAC, for pending bills.
• The Attorney General, where the prosecutor has a conflict.

Sources & Further Reading

Primary Sources

• Idaho Code Title 63: chapter 9 (payment and collection), chapter 10 (delinquency), chapter 11 (seizure and sale), chapter 12 (settlement), chapter 13 (cancellation and refund), chapter 7 (property tax relief)
• Idaho Code §§ 31-2102, 63-217, 63-401, 63-410, 63-411, 63-602AA, 63-602G, 63-602KK, 63-811, 63-810, 63-1404, 63-1405, 11-607, 28-22-105, 73-108, 73-110
• IDAPA 35.01.03 (Property Tax Administrative Rules), rules 415, 902, 936 and 939
• East Side Highway District v. Kootenai County, No. 51332 (Idaho July 9, 2025); Latah County v. Idaho State Tax Commission, No. 50852 (Idaho July 8, 2025); Stender v. SSI Food Services, Inc., 165 Idaho 433, 447 P.3d 881 (2019); V-1 Oil Co. v. County of Bannock, 97 Idaho 807, 554 P.2d 1304 (1976); Jones v. Flowers, 547 U.S. 220 (2006)
• Idaho Attorney General Opinions 21-01 (2021) and 85-1 (1985); legal guidelines of March 9, 1990 and July 31, 1990
• House Bill 594 (2026)

Agency Guidance

• Idaho State Tax Commission, property tax
• Idaho Board of Tax Appeals
• Idaho Association of County Treasurers

Related Training Modules

• Treasurers, Module 1: The Office of County Treasurer and Taking It On
• Treasurers, Module 3: Delinquency, Tax Deeds and Redemption
• Treasurers, Module 4: Custody, Deposits and Investment
• Treasurers, Module 5: Distribution, Settlement and Accounting
• Treasurers, Module 8: Case Law
• Treasurers, Module 10: Organizations, Training and Reference Library
• The Role of the County Assessor
• The Role of the Clerk, Auditor & Recorder
• The Role of the County Commissioner
• Budgets, Taxation & Fiscal Duty
• Issues course: Idaho Property Taxes in Depth, including homeowner relief and appeals
• Issues course: Local Government 101

Footnotes

1. Idaho Code § 31-2102(1) (the treasurer "is ex officio tax collector with duties relating to the collection of tax revenue as prescribed in title 63"); § 63-812 (collect, account for and remit to the auditor "showing distribution to the proper accounts or funds"). Read October 13, 2026.
2. § 63-803(2), (3) and (5) (auditor tells each district its taxable value; districts certify dollars to the commissioners "not later than the Thursday prior to the second Monday in September," with an extension of up to seven working days on application; districts with voter-approved bonds and levies give you each expiration date); § 63-410(1) (Tax Commission certifies operating property taxable value to the county auditors on or before the first Monday of September); § 63-401. The first Monday of September 2026 is Labor Day.
3. § 63-811(1), (2), (3), (5) and (6). The roll is due to you "on or before the first Monday of November" (November 2, 2026). The subsequent roll comes "as soon as possible, without delay, after the first Monday of December," and the missed roll in the year after the assessment was entered. Failure of the auditor to swear the affidavit "shall not affect the validity of any entry on the roll," but the commissioners must require it. Bills for those later rolls: § 63-903(5).
4. § 63-902(1)(a) through (n), (2), (3) and (4), read October 13, 2026 (last amended 2023, ch. 200). The Tax Commission supplies the notice forms under § 63-219(4).
5. § 63-902(6) (escrowee, trustee or other third-party taxpayer delivers a statement to the equitable titleholder "on or before the second Monday of December," December 14, 2026), (9) (subsequent and missed roll notices), (10) (no invalidation), (11) (non-tax charges) and (12) (electronic notice requested on a form you provide). § 63-1311(2) repeats the rule on other charges.
6. IDAPA 35.01.03.902, State Tax Commission, Property Tax Administrative Rules (version marked 7-1-24): notices must include taxpayers "whose property taxes are paid in full as a result of the property tax reduction approved under Section 63-704," showing the amount paid and zero taxes owed. Rule text (PDF), read October 13, 2026.
7. § 63-810(1)(b) and (c). A correction after the fourth Monday of November and before February 15 needs a published hearing if notices are out. If more tax is owed you mail a notice of tax correction "prior to the fourth Monday in May," and the deadline to pay is June 20.
8. Jones v. Flowers, 547 U.S. 220 (2006) (Roberts, C.J.): when mailed notice of a tax sale is returned unclaimed, the State "must take additional reasonable steps to attempt to provide notice to the property owner before selling his property, if it is practicable to do so." The case concerns notice of a sale, not the annual bill. Opinion text. Module 3 covers the tax deed notice.
9. § 63-903(1) through (5) (history: 1996, 2018, 2025 ch. 202, 2026 ch. 20). § 63-201(7) defines "delinquency" and (12) defines "late charge" as "a charge of two percent (2%) of the delinquency."
10. § 63-1001 (interest of "one percent (1%) per month calculated from January 1 following the year the tax lien attached," not charged on collection costs); § 63-1002(2) ("The second one-half (1/2) shall not be considered current if the first one-half (1/2) is delinquent"). Module 3 covers how delinquency entries are dated under § 63-907.
11. § 63-217(1)(a), (1)(b), (2), (3) and (4) (amended 2012, ch. 227). § 73-108 (holidays include "Every Sunday"); § 73-109 (time computed by excluding the first day and including the last "unless the last is a holiday"); § 73-110 (an act appointed for a holiday "may be performed upon the next business day"). Calendar check: December 20, 2026 and June 20, 2027 are both Sundays.
12. Example of county practice, not authority: the Bonner County Treasurer publishes that mailed payments must carry a USPS postmark on or before the due date, that a postage meter mark does not count, and that the due dates fall on "the first business day following" when the 20th is not a business day (county PDF, undated, read October 13, 2026).
13. § 63-901 ("All property taxes must be paid in lawful money of the United States. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a county may allow for payment of taxes by use of a debit card, credit card or electronic funds transfer"; added 1996, amended 2008, ch. 53). I found no section in Title 63, chapters 9, 10 or 13, that sets, caps or authorizes a fee for card or electronic payment. For one county's model see a 2015 guest opinion by the Kootenai County Treasurer, who wrote that a third party handled card and e-check payments and kept the convenience fee as payment for the service (Coeur d'Alene Press, January 9, 2015). That is a news report of one county's practice, not law.
14. § 63-905 (receipt "if requested by the taxpayer"; record shows date paid and amount; "the cancelled check may serve as a receipt" for a mailed payment); § 63-1306(2) ("Proof of payment of property taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the taxpayer"); § 63-902(7) (duplicate receipts and microfilm may be destroyed at ten years, if the information is replicated in other storage media); § 63-1002(3) (delinquency receipts).
15. § 63-906 (interim payment account: payments of "at least twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or the balance owing"; numbered receipt; no county interest; depositor cannot withdraw; posted to the roll "when the current property tax becomes due"; you are "liable on [your] official bond"). Idaho Attorney General legal guideline to the Boise and Canyon County treasurers, July 31, 1990 (Deputy Attorney General David G. High) (PDF), construing the predecessor section 63-1102A: deposits "are not applied against taxes due until they are sufficient to pay the full amount of the tax due, together with penalty, interest and costs," so they "do not affect penalty and interest calculations." Section 63-906 was added in 1996 and amended in 2006, so use the letter as background and read the present text.
16. § 63-1002(1) and (2) (a delinquency "shall be applied to costs, collection costs, special assessments, charges, fees, interest, late charges and property tax in the proportion each bears to the total amount due"; payment goes to "the oldest delinquency standing on the records," unless a court authorizes otherwise). The arithmetic in the text is my illustration, not a county figure.
17. § 63-713 (qualified claimant; "sufficient equity" means encumbrances plus deferred tax do not exceed 80 percent of market value); § 63-714; § 63-715 (application to the Tax Commission by the first Monday in September); § 63-716 (interest accrues; Tax Commission files the notice of lien; lien not first and prior); § 63-717 (Tax Commission pays you half by December 20 and half by June 20; $5,000,000 statewide annual cap); § 63-718.
18. § 63-1302(1) through (3) (added 1996, ch. 98). Refunds are paid "upon warrants drawn on the county current expense fund by the county auditor or upon checks issued by the county tax collector" and "apportioned to the various funds or taxing districts."
19. § 63-711(1) through (6) (undue hardship and casualty loss; sworn statement; burden on applicant; appeal to district court within 30 days, with no suspension of payment); § 63-602AA(1), (3) and (5) (hardship exemption decided by the board of equalization; claim by the fourth Monday of June; decision by the second Monday of July; current tax year only).
20. § 63-1303(1) and (2); § 63-1304 (commissioners may "by resolution, authorize the county tax collector to make adjustments of late charges, interest and fees, not to exceed the designated limit as set by the county commissioners, in order to facilitate the collection of property taxes"). IDAPA 35.01.03.936 (7-1-24): the board may cancel for double payment, "double or erroneous assessment" or "other errors," and the authority under section 63-1302 "extends neither to hardship situations pursuant to Section 63-602AA, Idaho Code, nor to cancellation of tax resulting from unequal or excessive valuation by the assessor."
21. § 63-1305(1) through (4) (commissioners may refund, credit against next year's taxes, or both; "refund" includes interest due on the refund, costs and other amounts ordered). § 63-1308(1) and (2) (protest payments "apportioned as other property taxes are apportioned"; action "shall be commenced within sixty (60) days after such payment or seizure").
22. V-1 Oil Co. v. County of Bannock, 97 Idaho 807, 554 P.2d 1304 (1976) (Shepard, J.), text. The taxpayer paid under protest in December 1974, missed the twenty-day appeal from the commissioners' levy action, and argued that a sixty-day protest period governed. The Court "disagree[d]," held that assessment and levy challenges "must be pursued in the statutory administrative process" first, and affirmed dismissal. The statute numbers in the opinion predate the 1996 recodification of Title 63.
23. § 63-704(1) and (2) (reduction for the current year only; the tax stays the taxpayer's responsibility and "perpetual" lien to the extent not relieved); § 63-706(1) (claims filed with the assessor between January 1 and April 15); § 63-707(1) through (6) (reduction roll certified by June 1; completed by the auditor by the fourth Monday of October; Tax Commission certifies allowed amounts to "the county auditor and tax collector" by the third Monday in November, November 16, 2026; disapproved claims may seek special cancellation under section 63-711 or appeal within 30 days); § 63-709(1) (Tax Commission pays you half by December 20 and half by June 20); § 63-710.
24. § 63-724(1) through (11) (added 2023, ch. 200; amended 2024, ch. 237). The credit is a "line item credit against the total of all eligible property taxes"; "No delinquent property taxes, penalties, interest, or fines may be paid with moneys from this program"; the county treasurer "shall deposit such moneys with the state treasurer by the fourth Monday in July" (July 26, 2027). The notice label is in § 63-902(1)(l).
25. § 63-602G(1), (2), (5), (6)(a) through (i) (history includes 2025 ch. 167, 2025 ch. 202 and 2026 ch. 236). The first $125,000 of market value, or fifty percent, whichever is less, is exempt. The assessor, not you, decides eligibility. Under subsection (6) the assessor notifies you of a recovery assessment, a first-time double claim carries a penalty "payable to the county treasurer" equal to the recovered tax, and unpaid recovered tax becomes a lien "in the same manner as provided for property taxes in section 63-206."
26. Latah County v. Idaho State Tax Commission (consolidated with Lincoln County v. Idaho State Tax Commission), Idaho Supreme Court Docket No. 50852, opinion filed July 8, 2025 (Meyer, J.) (opinion). The Court reversed a district court judgment that had favored the counties and held the 2020 text of section 63-602G unambiguous: the exemption applies retroactively to January 1 and is not prorated by application date (tax year 2022). It described H.B. 354 (2025) as requiring proration prospectively from January 1, 2026. The section was amended again in 2026 (ch. 236), and the text I read October 13, 2026 says the exemption "shall not be prorated." Read the current text.
27. Idaho Attorney General Opinion No. 21-01 (October 27, 2021), to Representative Brandon Mitchell (PDF): after H.B. 562 (2020), individuals "can claim the full homestead exemption-not subject to proration-at any time during the year." Attorney General opinions persuade. They do not bind a court.
28. § 63-602KK(1), (2), (3) and (4) (amended through 2025, ch. 300). The exemption covers items purchased on or after January 1, 2013 with an acquisition price of $3,000 or less, plus $100,000 per person per county from 2015 and an additional $150,000 from 2022, combined not to exceed $250,000. The Tax Commission pays "the county treasurer of each county," one-half by December 20 and one-half by June 20; the treasurer pays each taxing district "in proportion to the amount of reduction shown on the certifications." Module 5 covers the pass-through.
29. § 63-904(1) through (5) (amended 2022, ch. 225). Subsection (5) lets the commissioners extend the due date "not to exceed four (4) months" if the taxpayer appeals "prior to the property tax becoming delinquent," and "No extensions shall be granted on the second one-half." § 63-206(2) and § 63-1003(2) make the personal property tax a first and prior lien on the property and on the owner's other real and personal property.
30. § 63-1012(1) and (2); § 63-1013(1) through (3) (sheriff returns the warrant within 90 days; fees set by county ordinance); § 63-1101, § 63-1102, § 63-1107 and § 63-1108 (seizure, one week's notice by publication or posting in three public places, auction for cash, excess returned to the owner or deposited in the county treasury, and when you may bid).
31. § 63-1014(1)(a) through (d) and (2) (amended 2012, ch. 307). A misdemeanor conviction adds a payment to you of "a sum not in excess of double the amount of property tax which was collectible," plus costs and late charges.
32. Idaho Attorney General Opinion No. 85-1 (1985), to State Tax Commissioner Morgan Munger (PDF, a poor scan): personal property tax liens are superior to prior perfected purchase money security interests in the same property. The date is taken from the 1985 numbering; the scan does not show a clear day and month.
33. § 63-303 (assessed "as other residential housing"); § 63-304 (a manufactured home may become real property if the running gear is removed, it is on a foundation and the owner records a statement of intent); § 63-305(3) and (4) (removal of a home declared real property is prohibited "until the county tax collector has given written approval" certifying that taxes due and payable are paid; after reversal the home is assessed as personal property); § 63-317(1), (2), (5) and (7) (occupancy tax on new manufactured housing, "billed, collected and distributed in the same manner as all other property taxes").
34. Idaho Attorney General legal guideline, March 9, 1990 (Daniel G. Chadwick, Chief, Intergovernmental Affairs Division) to the Property Tax Administrator, Re: Mobile Home Homestead Exemption (PDF): a county "may proceed on a warrant of distraint against homestead property as if there were no homestead exemption." The letter rests partly on what is now Idaho Code § 11-607(1)(a)3., which lets a creditor levy on exempt property to enforce a claim for "State or local taxes." It predates the 1996 recodification, and the homestead dollar figure it mentions has since changed, so check the current homestead statute with your prosecutor before any warrant reaches a residence.
35. § 63-401 (Tax Commission assesses operating property, "completed or under construction"); § 63-411(4) and (5) (private railcar fleets with Idaho taxable value of $500,000 or more are apportioned to counties and collected by the county tax collector "in the same manner as other operating property taxes"; smaller fleets are levied and collected by the Tax Commission and treated as personal property); IDAPA 35.01.03.415.02 (7-1-24) ("By November 15 of each year, each county treasurer must provide the Tax Commission with the amount of taxes due from all private railcar fleets in the county"); § 63-903(1) (due dates for "the property and operating property rolls"); § 63-206(2).
36. § 63-1301 (the collection provisions of Title 63 apply to "all general and special taxes of any taxing district"); § 63-201(7) (a delinquency includes a "special assessment, fee, collection cost, or charge collected in the same manner as property tax"); § 63-902(11); § 63-1314 (professional services costs, including attorney fees and title searches, are a perpetual lien and "may be attached to the property taxes, current and delinquent").
37. East Side Highway District v. Kootenai County (consolidated with City of Post Falls v. Kootenai County), Idaho Supreme Court Docket No. 51332, opinion filed July 9, 2025 (Bevan, C.J.) (opinion; court staff summary, not part of the opinion). The Court affirmed an order that the county distribute the districts' proportionate share of late charges and interest, reading sections 63-1007(1) and 63-1015 to mean that "late charges and interest must be apportioned to taxing districts." It said counties "are entitled to recover their collection costs" and that if those costs do not make the county whole, "that is a matter for the County to address with the legislature." It awarded the districts fees on appeal under section 12-117(4) and did not decide whether the interest was "idle funds" under the Public Depository Law.
38. House Bill 594 (2026), titled to "provide for certain apportionment of late charges and interest" (bill text); session law 2026, ch. 20; effective July 1, 2026. It amended sections 63-903, 63-1201 and 63-1202. As read October 13, 2026, section 63-903(6) has the auditor apportion late charges and interest in the same proportion as each district receives in property taxes, and sections 63-1201 and 63-1202 name late charges and interest in your monthly settlement and the auditor's transmittal. I did not compare old and new text line by line.
39. Stender v. SSI Food Services, Inc. (In re Board of Tax Appeals, Appeal No. 16-A-1079), 165 Idaho 433, 447 P.3d 881 (Idaho Aug. 26, 2019) (Moeller, J.), text. The Court held that the county was not entitled to penalties and interest on additional taxes a district court ordered after the taxpayer had paid both halves on the then-current values, because the taxpayer "paid all taxes when they were due" and "was never 'delinquent.'" It noted that section 63-1305(2) provides interest on refunds of erroneously collected tax and that the Legislature "did not create a similar provision" for additional taxes. It also recited that taxes must be paid during an appeal under sections 63-511(1) and 63-3812(d).
40. Idaho Association of Counties, "Idaho Association of County Treasurers Holds 99th Annual Conference" (recap): the Idaho Association of County Treasurers (IACT) held its annual conference in Pocatello, August 5 to 8, 2024, with sessions on ethics, bankruptcy and tax deeds, for treasurers and their chief deputies. The IACT page on the IAC site is here. Read October 13, 2026.
41. Idaho State Tax Commission, property tax, Counties Guides and Contacting Property Tax; Idaho Board of Tax Appeals, bta.idaho.gov, which states that its appeals arise from county boards of equalization and the Tax Commission and include property assessment, exemption and "property tax reduction" decisions; Office of the Administrative Rules Coordinator, adminrules.idaho.gov. Each returned a live page October 13, 2026. I reviewed the Board of Tax Appeals home page for its stated mission only, and the Tax Commission pages for titles.
42. Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, icrmp.org; Idaho Association of Counties, idcounties.org; Idaho Attorney General, opinions page (the site says official opinions are published "on questions of major importance and/or statewide interest" and that letters from 1881 to 1984 are in the annual reports). Each returned a live page October 13, 2026.
43. Calendar checks run on October 13, 2026: November 2, 16 and 23, 2026 are Mondays; November 15, 2026 and December 20, 2026 are Sundays; December 7 and 14, 2026 are Mondays; January 11, 2027 is the second Monday of January; May 24, 2027 and July 12 and 26, 2027 are Mondays; June 20, 2027 is a Sunday. Monthly settlement dates follow § 63-1201: the first Monday of each month except the second Monday of January and July.
44. § 63-1201 (settle with the auditor and make "a detailed statement under oath"; amended 2026, ch. 20) and § 63-1202. § 63-903(6) directs that you remit "all property taxes and fees, together with any costs, late charges and interest" to the auditor under section 63-1201.
45. § 63-1012(2) (keep a record of each warrant and its return, "showing in detail the amount collected or the fact that no personal property belonging to the delinquent taxpayer was found," for two years after the return).
46. § 63-1404(1) ("Every public officer shall comply with any lawful order or rule of the state tax commission"); § 63-1405 (a county officer who "willfully neglects or refuses to perform" a revenue-law duty "may be removed from office in the manner prescribed by law," and the commissioners may suspend the officer and appoint a bonded replacement during the proceedings).