Lesson 9 of 9 · about 17 minutes
Following Property Taxes Year-Round: Calendar, Records and Checks
You'll be able to
- Follow the Idaho property tax year from January 1 to the June 20 second-half payment
- Name the key public records at each stage and who holds them
- Read an L-2 certification and check it against taxable value and the maximum budget
- Use the Tax Commission's statewide reports and dashboards to put local numbers in context
- Request records under the Idaho Public Records Act with the right deadlines in mind
Public attention to property tax usually arrives in two bursts: June, when notices land and people are angry, and late November, when bills land and people are angry again. By then the decisions are made. The time to show up is in between, while boards can still change course. This lesson turns the module into a routine.
The calendar
| Date (2026 dates in parentheses) | What happens | Source | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Value date for the year | 63-205 | Note big sales and new construction near this date |
| January 1 to April 15 | Circuit breaker and veterans applications | Tax Commission | Eligible owners need to know in January who qualifies |
| April 15 | Most exemption applications due to commissioners | 63-602(3) | Ask for the list of exemptions applied for |
| April 30 | Districts must tell the clerk their budget hearing dates | 63-802A | Every district's hearing date is now on file |
| First Monday in June (June 1) | Assessment notices mailed | 63-308 | Values versus taxes confusion peaks; the appeal deadline matters most now |
| Fourth Monday in June (June 22) | BOE appeal deadline | 63-501A | Ask for appeal counts by property type |
| Second Monday in July (July 13) | BOE adjourns; homestead status fixed for the state credit | 63-501, 63-724 | Get the BOE results |
| July and August | Budget hearings; kilowatt-hour tax estimates reach districts by the first Monday in August | 63-802A, HB 722 per Tax Commission | Attend; compare proposed budgets with maximums and forgone balances |
| First and second Monday in September (Sept. 7 and 14) | Homeowner relief roll certified by the assessor, then the auditor | 63-724 | Ask for the county's estimated credit total |
| Thursday before the second Monday in September (Sept. 10) | L-2 certifications due to county | 63-803 | Request every L-2 in your county |
| Late September to October | Commissioners set levies; Tax Commission reviews and approves (target Oct. 26, 2026) | Tax Commission training | Get the county levy table |
| Fourth Monday in November (Nov. 23) | Bills mailed; subsequent-roll BOE meets | Ada County HB 292 summary; 63-501 | Compare a typical home's bill with last year's |
| December 20 and June 20 | First and second halves due | 63-903 | Ask the treasurer for delinquency counts after each date |
The records
From the assessor
- Total market and taxable value by category (residential, commercial, agricultural, timber, mining, utilities) for at least five years.
- The new construction roll by district, and annexation value.
- The five-year appraisal plan and this year's appraisal areas.
- Counts: homeowner exemptions, circuit breaker and veterans claims, appeals filed and won.
- The county abstract: the auditor's summary of values by category that goes to the Tax Commission for equalization under 63-109.
From each taxing district
- The L-2 form for the last five years. Under Tax Commission Rule 803, it is presumed to be "a true and correct representation" of the budget the district adopted, so it is the official number.
- Forgone reserve and recovery resolutions, and the published budget hearing notice.
- The debt schedule for every bond and levy. Under 63-803(5), districts must give the tax collector the expiration date of each voter-approved bond and levy, so those dates should exist.
- For school districts, School District Facilities Fund amounts and how each dollar was applied.
From the county clerk and treasurer
- The levy table: each district's certified dollars, taxable value, levy rate, and total rate by tax code area.
- BOE minutes and docket, exemption approvals, and any 63-602NN contracts.
- Delinquency counts and amounts after December 20 and June 20.
From the Tax Commission
| Report or tool | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Market Values and Property Taxes (EPB00132), each December | Statewide and local changes, taxes by unit of government, causes of change, tax relief totals |
| Average Property Tax Rates (EPB00129) | County urban, rural and overall rates |
| Net Taxable Values by Major Category (EIS00095) | Category shares of value by county |
| Homeowner and Additional Property Tax Relief (EIS00522) | State credit payments by county |
| Circuit Breaker Statistics (EPB00089) | Claims, benefits and eligibility trends |
| Maximum Budget and Forgone Amounts dashboard | Each district's maximum budget and forgone balance |
| Urban Renewal Registry | Every revenue allocation area and its agency |
Request records under the Idaho Public Records Act. Idaho Code 74-103 requires an agency to grant or deny a resident's request within three working days, or within ten working days if it notifies you in writing that it needs more time. The request must say clearly that it is a public records request. Jeff's Idaho FOIA / Public Records Letter Generator drafts the letter, and the Idaho Open-Meetings Compliance Tracker helps you log each budget hearing's notice and agenda.
Checking a district's numbers
Example: the Sage Hollow Fire District's L-2
You obtain the invented district's 2026 L-2 and the Tax Commission's worksheet:
- Certified property tax: $1,860,000
- Net taxable value from the county: $1,240,000,000
- Maximum non-exempt budget per the worksheet: $1,905,000
- 2025 certified property tax: $1,790,000
- Forgone resolution adopted: none
Check 1, the rate. $1,860,000 / $1,240,000,000 = 0.001500000. Does the county levy table say 0.001500000? If not, ask why. A difference can be legitimate (an urban renewal base, a multi-county split under 63-803(3)) or an error.
Check 2, the change. ($1,860,000 - $1,790,000) / $1,790,000 = 3.9 percent. Fire districts now have a 15 percent ceiling on growth under HB 959 (2026), per the Tax Commission, so 3.9 percent is within limits, but it is more than 3 percent. Ask how much came from new construction.
Check 3, the forgone. $1,905,000 - $1,860,000 = $45,000 not levied. With no resolution, that year's forgone increase cannot be recovered later. And under HB 959, fire and ambulance districts can no longer reserve new forgone amounts after 2025 anyway, though older reserved balances can still be recovered within the 1 percent and 3 percent limits.
Check 4, the bill. On a home with $300,000 taxable: $300,000 x 0.0015 = $450.00 for this district.
Checklist
- Every number has a year and a source document.
- Dollars and rates are given side by side.
- Value changes are split from budget changes (value effect and rate effect).
- State credits and facilities money are identified, with the year's amounts.
- Exempt levies (voter-approved) are separated from capped ones.
- Urban renewal increment is accounted for in any rate comparison.
- Each district I describe as raising or cutting taxes has had a chance to respond with its numbers in front of it.
- Comparisons with other places name the measure, year, source and comparison group.
Common mix-ups
- Claim: The Tax Commission sets local levies. What the evidence shows: Districts set budgets, county commissioners set levies, and the Tax Commission reviews and approves them to make sure limits are not exceeded.
- Claim: The budget in the newspaper notice is what the district will levy. What the evidence shows: The notice is a proposal. The L-2 filed in September is the certified amount. Cite the L-2.
- Claim: If a district misses a deadline, nothing happens. What the evidence shows: Missing the April 30 hearing-date notice under 63-802A costs a district that year's 3 percent, new construction and annexation increases and any forgone recovery.
Reporting angle
- Make a standing spreadsheet: one row per district per year, with certified dollars, taxable value, rate, maximum budget, forgone balance and exempt levies. Update it every October.
- Pick one "typical home" each year, the county's median homestead, and publish its full bill history by district.
- Each December, read the Tax Commission's new statewide report the week it comes out and localize its biggest finding.
- Keep a source list of who answers the phone at the assessor's, clerk's and treasurer's offices and at the Tax Commission's property tax bureau. These are the people who keep you from publishing a wrong number.
Research angle
- Idaho Code 63-803: Certification of budgets in dollars.
- IDAPA 35.01.03, Property Tax Administrative Rules: Rules including ratio studies, farmland and the L-2 form.
- Idaho Code 63-109: Equalization by category and the county abstracts.
- Idaho Code 63-802: Limits on budget requests.
- Tax Commission, Reports and Statistics: Property tax reports and dashboards.
- Tax Commission, 2026 Budget and Levy Training for school districts: School district levy and budget slides.
- Idaho Code 63-903: When property taxes are payable.
Pictures, Numbers and Infographics
Idaho levied about $2.3 billion in property tax for 2025. The mix inside that total moved: city and county levies rose every year since 2021, while school levies fell as the state used facility funds to reduce them.
By the numbers
- $2.502 billion: Idaho property tax budgets for 2025 before any state relief. School facility levy reductions brought the amount levied to $2.286 billion, and homeowner tax relief brought the final cost to taxpayers to $2.174 billion. Idaho State Tax Commission, Market Values and Property Taxes for 2025
- $328.0 million: total legislative property tax relief in 2025 ($215.2 million in school district facility funds and $112.8 million in homeowner tax relief), up from $246.2 million in 2024 and $314.1 million in 2023. Idaho State Tax Commission, 2025
- $593.3 million to $404.4 million: school property taxes levied statewide, 2021 to 2025. Over the same years city levies rose from $571.2 million to $705.0 million and county levies from $560.1 million to $682.4 million. Idaho State Tax Commission, 2025 (Table 7)
- 8.4 percent: statewide growth in taxable value from 2024 to 2025, after 5.7 percent the year before. From 2021 to 2022 it was 43.7 percent. Idaho State Tax Commission, 2025
- 44.3 percent: share of all 2025 property taxes, after relief, paid by owner-occupied homes. In 2022 it was 51 percent. Idaho State Tax Commission, 2025
- 0.580 percent: statewide average property tax rate in 2025, based on levied amounts: 0.680 percent in urban areas and 0.423 percent in rural areas. Rates ran from 1.670 percent in Craigmont City to 0.145 percent in one rural part of Idaho County. Idaho State Tax Commission, 2025 Average Property Tax Rates
- $163,594: half of the Idaho taxing districts that levied property tax in 2025 levied less than this. Only 45 districts levied more than $10 million each. Idaho State Tax Commission, 2025
Check yourself
1. What is the L-2 form?
IDAPA 35.01.03.803 defines the Dollar Certification Form (L-2) as the form taxing districts use to certify their budgets to the county.
2. Under Idaho Code 63-803, when must most districts certify their property tax amount to the county commissioners?
63-803(3) sets the Thursday before the second Monday in September. In 2026 that was September 10.
3. A district certifies $1,860,000 of property tax and its net taxable value is $1,240,000,000. What levy rate should appear on the county's levy table?
$1,860,000 / $1,240,000,000 = 0.0015, written to nine decimals as 0.001500000.
4. An Idaho resident files a public records request with a county. How long does the county have to grant or deny it under Idaho Code 74-103?
74-103 requires a response to a resident's request within three working days, or no later than ten working days if the agency notifies the requester in writing that more time is needed.
5. Which Tax Commission report shows how much property tax each type of government levied statewide over five years and why taxes changed?
The annual Market Values and Property Taxes report includes the five-year distribution by unit of government and a table of the major causes of change.
6. A district's certified budget is $1,860,000, its maximum non-exempt budget per the Tax Commission worksheet is $1,905,000, and it adopted no forgone resolution. What happens to the $45,000 difference?
Under 63-802, a forgone increase must be reserved by notice, hearing and resolution. Without that, the year's forgone amount cannot be recovered.
Terms in this lesson
- L-2 form
- The Dollar Certification Form each taxing district files to certify the dollars it will raise from property tax.
- Levy table
- The county's list of every district's certified dollars, taxable value and levy rate, and the total rate for each tax code area.
- County abstract
- The county auditor's summary of assessed values by category, transmitted to the Tax Commission for equalization and reporting.
- Forgone balance
- Unused budget authority a district has reserved by resolution and may recover in later years within limits.
Sources
- Idaho Code 63-803, Certification of budgets in dollars checked 2026-10
- IDAPA 35.01.03, Rule 803 (L-2 form) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 63-109, Equalization by categories (county abstracts) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 74-103, Response to request for examination of public records checked 2026-10
- Idaho State Tax Commission, Reports and Statistics (property reports and dashboards) checked 2026-10
- Idaho State Tax Commission, 2026 Budget and Levy Training, School District Webinar (EPR00112, 2026 dates) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 63-802, Limitation on budget requests checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 63-724, Homeowner property tax relief (July and September dates) checked 2026-10
- Idaho Code 63-903, When payable checked 2026-10