NPC residents seeing short tax turnaround

If you are a Nez Perce County property owner anxious to learn how much you owe in taxes — the bill is in the mail.

Many taxpayers have yet to get a bill even though they were mailed out last week. When they do arrive, they will learn two things. They likely owe more than last year and — if it’s any consolation — their tax rates probably went down.

So how does that work? The property tax scheme concocted by the Idaho Legislature relies on surplus sales tax revenue to lower the amount homeowners owe. This year’s sales tax surplus is much smaller than it was last year and thus the property tax relief provided to homeowners is lower as well.

“There was a big cut in the relief money that came through this year on people’s taxes,” said Nez Perce County Treasurer Rebecca “Missy” McLaughlin.

She said most levy rates declined but it varies based on the location of individual properties. She pulled up an example of a high-end property that was taxed $9,541 last year and received $1,628 in property tax relief from the legislature, bringing the bill to $7,913. This year the same property was taxed at $9,394 but the property tax relief fell to $911 for a bill of $8,483.

“So that is way more than last year but their taxes actually went down compared to last year,” she said. “That is hard to explain without looking at (the fine details) of the bill.”

So why haven’t you received your bill?

McLaughlin said counties have to send their levy amounts to the state for verification. Nez Perce County received the levy rates Oct. 28. From there, McLaughlin double checked them, prepared the bills and then sent them to a commercial printer in Spokane on Nov 20.

The printing company had an equipment failure at Spokane and had to transfer the printing job to one of its sites in Arizona.

McLaughlin said the bills were mailed out Nov. 27 but are apparently taking longer to arrive because they are coming from Arizona instead of Spokane.

For people who don’t pay through their mortgage payments, the taxes are due Dec. 20. That leaves only about two weeks if bills arrive this week.

People can call McLaughlin’s office and request their bills via email. She said people paying by mail should remember they have to be postmarked by Dec. 20, not just placed in a mailbox by that date.

“If you are writing the check on the 20th, you need to take them (to the treasurer’s office), or to the drop box in front of Courthouse or take them to the post office counter.”

She encourages people with questions about their bills to call her office at (208) 799-3030 or visit in person.

“We are happy to sit down and explain the structure,” she said.

Barker may be contacted @lmtribune.com.