Module 1: The Role of the County Assessor

The Office and Where Its Duties Live

Idaho Code Title 31, chapter 25 carries the heading "Assessor." It holds one section, and the section is one sentence.¹

"The assessor's duties are prescribed in title 63, relating to revenue."

Idaho Code § 31-2501

So the chapter named for the office points elsewhere and says nothing else. The real job sits in Title 63, mostly in chapters 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, and a reader who stops at Title 31 learns almost nothing about it.

The assessor is one of the county officers listed in § 31-2001: the sheriff, the clerk of the district court (who is also ex officio auditor, recorder and clerk of the board of county commissioners), the assessor, the prosecuting attorney, the treasurer (ex officio tax collector and public administrator), the coroner, and three commissioners.²³

Election, Qualifications, Term

Section 34-621 sets four-year terms counted from 1974, so the seat is on the November 2026 ballot, then 2030. A candidate must be at least 21 on election day, a United States citizen, and a resident of the county for the year before the election. The candidate files a declaration with the county clerk and pays a $40 fee.⁴

The list stops there. No appraisal license, no degree, no experience. The statute does say that value estimates placed on the roll must be made by the assessor or a certified property tax appraiser, and it directs the State Tax Commission to run the schooling and certification program.⁵ In practice the elected assessor manages, and certified staff do much of the appraising. Voters can fairly ask who in the office holds the certifications.

The assessor posts a $5,000 official bond and keeps an office at the county seat.⁶

What the Office Does

• Finds the market value of all real and personal property in the county. Operating property, mainly utilities and railroads, is valued by the Tax Commission instead.
• Builds the rolls: the property roll, the subsequent and missed rolls, and the new construction roll.
• Takes applications for the homeowner's exemption and the property tax reduction (circuit breaker) program.
• Mails the valuation notice and answers for the county's values at the board of equalization.⁷

Market Value, January 1 and the Assessment Calendar

The Idaho Constitution tells the legislature to raise revenue "by levying a tax by valuation, so that every person or corporation shall pay a tax in proportion to the value of his, her, or its property."⁹ Statute turns that sentence into a working standard. Section 63-205(1) says all real, personal and operating property subject to taxation "must be assessed annually at market value for assessment purposes as of 12:01 a.m. of the first day of January in the year in which such property taxes are levied."¹⁰

Market value has its own definition in § 63-201(15):

"'Market value' means the amount of United States dollars or equivalent for which, in all probability, a property would exchange hands between a willing seller, under no compulsion to sell, and an informed, capable buyer, with a reasonable time allowed to consummate the sale, substantiated by a reasonable down or full cash payment."

Idaho Code § 63-201(15)

Taxable value is that market value less whatever exemptions apply.¹¹¹² The owner of income-producing property can ask for the assessor's calculations and get them.

January 1 does a lot of quiet work. A house finished in April is not taxed as a finished house for that year. Section 63-317 taxes improvements under construction only for the part "actually in place as of January 1," then adds an occupancy tax, prorated by the months of occupancy, once a new building is lived in or used. An owner who fails to report occupancy can draw a penalty of 5 percent of the tax per month, up to 25 percent.¹³

Business owners face an earlier date. Personal property lists are due by March 15, and an owner who files nothing can be assessed on the assessor's "best judgment and information."¹⁴

The Notice

The assessor must deliver or mail the valuation assessment notice no later than the first Monday in June. Since January 1, 2024 every county uses a standard form from the Tax Commission. Besides the current value and the right to appeal, the notice must show the previous two years of market value and taxes by district, the percentage change in those taxes, and each district's budget hearing date and phone number.¹⁵

The Year in Dates

The statutes control. The 2027 dates come from counting Mondays.¹⁷

Appraisal, Indexing and the Five-Year Cycle

Value changes every year. That does not mean someone visits every parcel every year. Section 63-314 requires a continuing valuation program in which all taxable property is appraised at least once every five years: at least 15 percent of parcels in year one of a cycle, 35 percent by the end of year two, 55 percent by year three, 75 percent by year four and all of it by year five. Whatever was not appraised that year gets indexed to current market value using sales and the year's appraisal results. The assessor keeps records of when each parcel was last appraised.

The commissioners pay for this. They "shall furnish the assessor with such additional funds and personnel as may be required," and they may levy up to four-hundredths of one percent of market value for a property valuation fund, which works out to $40 on each $100,000. A county that falls behind can ask the Commission for an extension of up to two years, but underfunding the program, malfeasance and mismanagement by a current elected official do not qualify.¹⁸

Farmland Is Valued by What It Grows

Land actively devoted to agriculture does not get valued as a future subdivision. Section 63-205C says its market value "is its actual use value," set by capitalizing economic rent or long-term average crop rental, using a five-year average lender rate plus the local tax rate. Speculative development value waits until the use changes.¹⁹

Qualifying is a separate question under § 63-604. More than five contiguous acres used for field crops, nursery stock, for-profit grazing or a cropland retirement program qualifies. Five acres or fewer must have been actively farmed for three growing seasons and meet an income test, and such parcels are presumed nonagricultural until the owner shows otherwise.²⁰

Exemptions and Relief the County Runs

Exemptions take value off the roll. Relief programs cut the bill or delay it. Both start at the assessor's counter.

The Homeowner's Exemption

For each tax year, the first $125,000 of the market value of an owner-occupied primary home, or 50 percent of that value, whichever is less, is exempt from property tax.²¹²² It covers the home plus up to one acre. The owner applies to the assessor on a county form. One application carries forward while the owner stays in the same home.

The assessor is supposed to investigate whether an applicant is claiming a second homestead. If a claim was improper, the assessor can recover the tax for up to seven years plus charges and interest. A first duplicate claim carries a penalty equal to the recovered tax, and a repeat within seven years is a misdemeanor. The owner has 30 days to appeal to the county board of equalization.²³

Other Exemptions and the Commissioners' Role

Most other exemptions need an annual approval by the board of county commissioners. An owner applies to the commissioners by April 15, and the decision is due by May 15. A loser can appeal to the county board of equalization.²⁵

Property Tax Reduction (the Circuit Breaker)

Chapter 7 of Title 63 offers a reduction on the homestead for owners in defined groups: age 65 or older, widows and widowers, disabled persons, disabled veterans, the blind, and fatherless or motherless children under 18, among others. The claimant must own and occupy the home and have applied for the homeowner's exemption.²⁶

The claim goes to the county assessor between January 1 and April 15. The reduction runs from $250 up to $1,500, scaled by income, for taxpayers under an income limit that is the greater of $37,000 per household or 185 percent of the federal poverty guideline for a household of two. The Tax Commission republishes the figures each year; for the 2027 program it says 2026 income of $40,030 or less, after medical expenses, qualifies.²⁷ A home assessed above the greater of $400,000 or 200 percent of the county median for exempt homes goes to the deferral program instead.²⁸

A veteran with a 100 percent service-connected disability gets a separate reduction of $1,500 or the actual tax, whichever is less, with no income test.²⁹ The assessor prepares a tax reduction roll and certifies it to the auditor and the Tax Commission by June 1. The claim and its documents are not public records.³⁰

From Assessed Value to the Tax Bill

The assessor stops at taxable value. Everything after that belongs to someone else.

Each district's governing board certifies a budget in dollars, no later than the Thursday before the second Monday in September. The commissioners then "make a tax levy as a percent of taxable value" that raises the certified dollars.³¹ A levy rate is dollars divided by taxable value. When values rise across a district and the budget does not, the rate falls.

The Cap, in Brief

Section 63-802 limits the dollars. A taxing district may not certify more property tax revenue than the highest amount it certified in any of the three preceding years, plus a growth factor of up to 3 percent, plus the revenue from new construction and annexation. The combined increase cannot pass 8 percent, or 15 percent for fire protection and ambulance districts. Voter-approved overrides and bonds sit outside it.³² The full treatment of the cap, forgone balances and the hearing process is in the Budgets, Taxation & Fiscal Duty module, and Local Government 101 works the arithmetic.

The New Construction Roll

One piece of the cap runs straight through the assessor's office. The new construction roll lists each taxpayer, the new construction and the taxable value it added. By statute the roll carries 90 percent of the taxable market value increase from new structures, additions to existing nonresidential buildings, newly placed manufactured homes, electric generation equipment and a few other items. It "shall not include any change in value of existing property that is due to external market forces such as general or localized inflation."³³

The roll goes to the auditor by the first Monday in June. Then it does real work: a district multiplies its preliminary levy rate by the value on the roll, and the result is extra budget authority on top of the 3 percent.³⁴ The roll is a quiet lever, and it deserves the same scrutiny as the headline values.

Appeals: Board of Equalization, Board of Tax Appeals, District Court

A value on the roll is a proposal until the appeal window closes. The system has three steps, and the first is run by the county commissioners.

Step One: The County Board of Equalization

The Constitution makes the county commissioners the board of equalization.³⁵ They must finish and adjourn by the second Monday of July. The assessor or a designee attends and may introduce testimony.³⁶

An appeal is a written form that names the taxpayer and the property and gives a reason. For a value on the property roll, it must be filed by the end of county business hours on the fourth Monday of June. For the subsequent roll, the deadline is the fourth Monday of November.

The board's job, in the statute's words, is "confined strictly to assuring that the market value for assessment purposes of property has been found by the assessor," plus exemption complaints. It may raise or lower a value. Before it raises one, it must notify the owner and wait ten working days. The taxpayer carries the burden of showing the assessor's value is wrong, by a preponderance of the evidence.³⁷

Step Two: Board of Tax Appeals or District Court

Within 30 days after the board of equalization mails notice of its decision, or announces it at a hearing, the owner (or the assessor, the Tax Commission, or any aggrieved person) can appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals. The same appeal can go to the district court of the county instead, in the same 30 days. Taxes stay due while the appeal runs.³⁸

The Board of Tax Appeals is three citizens appointed by the governor with Senate consent. By statute it is independent of the Tax Commission, and its members may not hold an elective office or any public office involving assessment of taxes. After a timely notice of appeal, the hearing and decision are due by May 1 unless every party agrees in writing to a delay.³⁹ The Board's website adds that filing costs nothing, a lawyer is not required, and the notice goes to the county auditor, not the Board.⁴⁰

The burden stays on the party seeking relief, with one exception. If the assessor's increase tops 10 percent of the prior year's value and came in part from the assessor failing to use the equalization methods required by § 63-208, the burden falls on the party seeking the increase.

Step Three: District Court and Beyond

Anyone aggrieved by a Board of Tax Appeals decision can appeal to the district court in the taxpayer's county of residence or the county where the property sits. The court hears the case fresh, without a jury, and the final order can go to the Supreme Court.⁴¹ A final Board decision that changes a value generally bars an increase the next year unless the property physically changes.⁴²

A Board decision can be reheard on request within 10 days of mailing, and the district court appeal runs on the clock in Rule 84 of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure, which this page does not restate. Shorter clocks apply to newly occupied property (28 days) and circuit breaker denials (30 days, directly to the Board of Tax Appeals).⁴³

The State Tax Commission: Rules, Ratio Studies and Power to Order Changes

The Tax Commission is four members appointed by the governor with Senate consent, no more than two from one party, serving six-year terms.⁴⁴ The Constitution gives it the duty of "supervision and coordination of the work of the several county boards of equalization." Several of its powers matter to anyone watching an assessor.⁴⁵

• It can correct erroneous assessments in any county and reconvene any county board of equalization, whatever the usual calendar says.
• It can prepare a supplemental roll itself if an assessor will not fix a bad value or place omitted property on the roll.
• It writes the rules on how market value is found, and the assessor must follow them.

The Commission also sits as the state board of equalization. It works by category of property and county, not by parcel. Before it can raise or lower the total value of a category in a county, it must give the assessor and commissioners notice by the first Monday of April, with the grounds and supporting findings.⁴⁶ A county that falls behind on the five-year program can be put under the Commission's control with the cost taken from its sales tax distribution.⁴⁷

The Ratio Study

The measuring tool is the annual ratio study. The Commission compares assessed values with actual sale prices, county by county and category by category. Section 63-208 sets the standard: the median ratio must fall within 90 to 110 percent of market value, tested with confidence intervals, and each tested category must sit within five percentage points of every other.⁴⁸⁴⁹

The 2025 study, released in a July 17, 2026 memo to assessors, looked at sales from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025. It found a median assessment level of 94.85 percent for improved residential property across 25,689 sales in 43 counties. It also found that 16 primary categories in 14 counties failed the assessment-level standard at 90 percent confidence, up from 5 categories in 5 counties the year before. Failing categories are "subject to state equalization" the next year unless follow-up studies show compliance.⁵⁰

One hook is easy to miss. The homeowner's exemption itself may be granted only if the Tax Commission has certified to the commissioners that all properties subject to the assessor "have, in fact, been appraised uniformly so as to secure a just valuation."⁵¹

Public Access to Assessment Records and What It Costs

Idaho starts from a presumption that public records are open.⁵² The assessor's office holds some of the most requested records in a county.

What Is Open

Section 74-107(24) exempts three kinds of assessor, Tax Commission, board of equalization and Board of Tax Appeals records: personal property lists filed under § 63-302, operating statements, and confidential commercial or financial information, including trade secrets, which the taxpayer must mark. The same subsection then lists what stays open no matter what: the owner's name and mailing address, the parcel number, the legal description, the square footage and acreage, the assessed value, the tax district and tax rate, and the total property tax assessed.⁵³ That list is the working core of a property tax investigation.

The roll has its own inspection window. After the assessor delivers it, the roll and the exemption claims stay with the clerk of the board until the second Monday of July "for the inspection of all persons interested."⁵⁴ Board of equalization meetings are open meetings under the Open Meeting Law.

What Is Closed

Circuit breaker claims and their documents are not public records. The homeowner's exemption information the Tax Commission shares among county officials is outside the records law too.⁵³

How to Ask

A request goes to the designated custodian, and it should say it is a public records request. The agency may require it in writing, describing the records, with the requester's contact information and a statement of Idaho residency. A resident gets an answer within three working days, or a written notice that more time is needed and delivery within ten working days. Nonresidents get 21 and 35 days. Silence counts as a denial.⁵⁵

A denial must be in writing, cite the statute relied on, and say how to appeal. The only remedy is a petition to the district court within 180 calendar days of the mailing of the denial. An official who deliberately and in bad faith refuses a legitimate request faces a civil penalty of up to $1,000.⁵⁶

What It Costs

A resident pays nothing for the first two hours of labor or the first 100 pages. Past that, the agency may charge actual copying cost and labor at the pay rate of the lowest-paid employee able to do the work. A resident can seek a fee waiver by showing the request will contribute significantly to public understanding of government.⁵⁷

What the Assessor Does Not Do, and How to Hold the Office to Account

The assessor values property. The assessor does not set the tax rate, write a district's budget, decide an appeal, collect a dollar or choose the appraisal rules.

• The tax rate comes from the commissioners applying the certified budgets of every taxing district to taxable value.
• Budgets come from the districts' own boards, and the 3 percent cap limits them.
• Appeals go to the board of equalization, then to the Board of Tax Appeals or the courts.
• The treasurer, as ex officio tax collector, bills and collects.⁵⁸
• The Tax Commission writes the rules and values operating property.
• The legislature writes the exemptions, the relief programs and the cap.

Honest assessors work inside real limits: rules from Boise, thin sales data in small counties, and a budget set by the same commissioners who hear their appeals. When the complaint is the rate, the budget, the cap or an exemption, the assessor is the wrong person to ask.

The Statutory Duties With Teeth

The personal property statute says that "any willful failure to personally contact each personal property owner, shall be deemed malfeasance in office and grounds for the removal of the assessor from office."⁵⁹ The assessor must swear an affidavit with each roll that it is a true and complete statement of market value. If the affidavit is missing, the commissioners must demand it, and on refusal the chairman must file a verified information in district court charging neglect of duty.⁶⁰ The Attorney General may investigate allegations that a county elected officer broke state criminal law in an official capacity.⁶¹

The Commissioners' Levers

The commissioners fund the valuation program, set the office's hours, and decide whether to ask the Commission for an extension on the five-year cycle. The Commission has to report any extension it grants to the House and Senate tax committees.⁶² The board that wants a better roll can pay for one. It cannot tell the assessor what a parcel is worth, because the assessor answers to the rules and the board of equalization sits only to test the assessor's work against them.

The Ballot and the Recall

The assessor faces the voters every four years, and the office is subject to recall. A recall petition goes to the county clerk and needs signatures of registered electors equal to 20 percent of those registered at the last general election held in the county to elect county officers at which the officer was elected. Backers get 75 days to gather them, and nothing circulates until the officer has served 90 days. If enough signatures survive review, the officer has five business days to resign before the clerk orders a special election.⁶³

The Ethics, Conduct & Conflicts of Interest module covers conflict-of-interest rules for county officers. A fair question for any assessor is how the office handles the parcels of its own staff, family and neighbors, and whether a second appraiser reviews them. The statutes read for this page do not require it.

Reporting Angles

Address requests to the assessor's designated records custodian under Idaho Code §§ 74-102 and 74-103, mark them as public records requests, and name a date range.

Public Records to Request

• The property roll, the subsequent and missed rolls, and the new construction roll for the last three years (§§ 63-301, 63-301A, 63-311), in electronic form if available (§ 74-102(15)).
• The county's continuing valuation plan filed with the Tax Commission and the records showing when each parcel was last appraised (§ 63-314).
• Any Tax Commission notice, order or extension request about the county's assessments (§§ 63-109, 63-314, 63-316).
• Board of equalization minutes, appeal forms received, and outcomes by year (§ 63-507).
• Counts and dollar totals of homeowner's exemptions granted and recoveries imposed (§ 63-602G(6)).
• The assessor's budget request, staffing, and the certification status of appraisers (§§ 63-201, 63-314(3)), plus the property valuation fund balance.

If a request is denied, the 180-day clock for a court petition starts when the denial is mailed (§ 74-115).

Documents and Meetings to Watch

• Board of equalization sessions from January through the second Monday of July, and again on the fourth Monday of November. These are open meetings, and the assessor presents there.
• Each taxing district's budget hearing, and the commissioners' levy-setting in September (§ 63-803).

Numbers Worth Comparing

• Your county's median ratio and coefficient of dispersion in each tested category against the statewide figures: 94.85 for improved residential in the 2025 study.
• Value on the new construction roll as a share of total taxable value, year over year, and the share of each district's budget growth that came from it.
• Appeals filed, appeals granted and the average reduction.
• The share of parcels last appraised in each year of the five-year cycle against the 15, 35, 55, 75 and 100 percent schedule.
• Change in total taxable value against change in each district's levy rate.

Questions to Ask the Officeholder

• Which year of the five-year cycle is the county in, and how many parcels did staff physically visit this year compared with the number indexed?
• What does the latest ratio study say for each tested category here, and if any failed, what is the plan and the date?
• How many certified appraisers are on staff, and how many positions are open?
• How many appeals did you see last year, how many ended in a lower value, and what evidence does the office present at hearing?
• When an owner calls after the notice goes out, how do you make sure they know the appeal deadline?

Sources & Further Reading

Primary Sources

• Idaho Constitution art. VII, §§ 2 and 12; art. XVIII, § 6 (Idaho Legislature)
• Idaho Code Title 31, chapter 25 (§ 31-2501, Duties of assessor); chapter 20 (County officers in general)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 1 (Department of Revenue and Taxation; State Tax Commission powers, §§ 63-105A, 63-109, 63-111)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 2 (Definitions; §§ 63-201, 63-205, 63-205C, 63-207, 63-208)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 3 (Assessment of real and personal property; §§ 63-301 to 63-318)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 5 (Equalization of assessments; §§ 63-501 to 63-511)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 6 (Exemptions; §§ 63-602, 63-602G, 63-604)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 7 (Property tax relief; §§ 63-701 to 63-710)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 8 (Levy and apportionment; §§ 63-802, 63-803) and chapter 9 (§ 63-903, when payable)
• Idaho Code Title 63, chapter 38 (Board of Tax Appeals)
• Idaho Code Title 34, chapter 6 (§ 34-621, election of county assessors) and chapter 17 (Recall elections)
• Idaho Code Title 74, chapter 1 (Public records; §§ 74-102, 74-103, 74-107, 74-115 to 74-117)

Agency Guidance

• Idaho State Tax Commission, Ratio Studies, and the 2025 Ratio Study memorandum of July 17, 2026 (publication EPB00660)
• Idaho State Tax Commission, Homeowner's Exemption and Property Tax Reduction
• Idaho Board of Tax Appeals, How to appeal a county board of equalization decision (IDAPA 36.01.01 procedural rules)

Related Training Modules

• The Role of the County Commissioner (commissioners as the board of equalization)
• Authority & Powers of the County Commissioner
• Budgets, Taxation & Fiscal Duty (the 3 percent cap and the budget hearing)
• Ethics, Conduct & Conflicts of Interest
• Idaho Open Meeting Law
• Constitutional Boundaries: Idaho & U.S.
• The Role of the County Treasurer (collection and the tax bill)
• The Role of the County Clerk (clerk of the board, auditor, recorder)
• Idaho Resources & Organizations

Issues and Advocacy Courses

• Idaho Property Taxes in Depth, especially How Idaho Assesses Property and Appealing a Value
• Local Government 101: Budgets, Levies and Bonds
• Idaho Open Meeting Law in Depth

Footnotes

1. Idaho Code § 31-2501. Title 31, chapter 25 (Assessor) holds this one section and no other. The section's history note traces it to the Revised Codes and a 1913 amendment. Statutes checked against the Idaho Legislature's chapter text, which the Legislature posts after each session; current as of October 2026.
2. Idaho Code § 31-2001 (county officers enumerated). In county practice the auditor named throughout Title 63 is the clerk of the district court wearing the second hat the section gives that officer. The treasurer is ex officio tax collector under Idaho Code § 31-2102.
3. Idaho Const. art. XVIII, § 6 (county officers). The section calls for election of the county assessor "every four years," counted from the 1986 general election, and says deputies and clerical assistants receive "such compensation as may be fixed by the county commissioners." Text at the Legislature's site. See also Idaho Code § 31-2003 (every county officer except a commissioner may appoint deputies).
4. Idaho Code § 34-621 (election of county assessors; qualifications). The statute counts from the 1974 general election in four-year steps, which lands on 2022, 2026 and 2030. The constitution's count from 1986 lands on the same years. The candidate filing period for the 2026 election has already closed; confirm dates with your county clerk.
5. Idaho Code § 63-201(1)(a) (value estimates placed on the roll "must be made by the assessor or a certified property tax appraiser") and Idaho Code § 63-105A(17) (Tax Commission runs the annual appraisal school and the property tax appraiser certification program). Section 34-621 lists age, citizenship and residence and no appraisal credential. Section 63-201 was amended in 2026 (session law chapter 153).
6. Idaho Code § 31-2015(6) (assessor's official bond of $5,000) and Idaho Code § 31-2009 (assessors keep offices at the county seat, open on days and hours the commissioners prescribe).
7. Property assessed by the county assessor: Idaho Code § 63-207(1); operating property assessed by the Tax Commission: § 63-207(2). Plat records and parcel numbers: Idaho Code § 63-209. Rolls: Idaho Code § 63-301, Idaho Code § 63-301A, Idaho Code § 63-311. Homeowner's exemption forms: Idaho Code § 63-602G(3). Circuit breaker claims filed with the assessor: Idaho Code § 63-706(1). Notice and attendance at the board of equalization: Idaho Code § 63-308 and Idaho Code § 63-501(1).
8. Idaho Code § 63-208(2). The section was amended in 2023 and twice in 2025 (session law chapters 202 and 313); current text as of October 2026.
9. Idaho Const. art. VII, § 2 (revenue to be provided by taxation). Text at the Legislature's site. For the wider constitutional frame see the Constitutional Boundaries module.
10. Idaho Code § 63-205(1). Subsection (2) assesses personal property that enters the state after January 1 as of its date of entry, using the fractions in Idaho Code § 63-311(3).
11. Idaho Code § 63-201(15) (market value), (30) (taxable value is market value for assessment purposes less applicable exemptions). Section 63-201 was amended in 2026 (session law chapter 153); the market value definition quoted here is the text in force as of October 2026.
12. Idaho Code § 63-208(1) ("actual and functional use shall be a major consideration") and (3) (on request, the assessor gives the owner of income-producing property the calculations used to reach its value). The statewide ratio standard in subsection (1) is covered in the State Tax Commission section below.
13. Idaho Code § 63-317(1) and (2) (January 1 status; occupancy tax), (3)(c) (penalty of 5 percent of the tax per month, to a maximum of 25 percent, set by the board of equalization when an owner fails to report occupancy), and (3)(b)(i) (28 days to appeal the appraised value of newly occupied property).
14. Idaho Code § 63-302(1) (personal property list due to the assessor not later than March 15; signed and verified under oath) and (2) (assessor may list and assess "according to his best judgment and information" if the owner does not file).
15. Idaho Code § 63-308(2) (notice delivered or mailed no later than the first Monday in June) and (3)(a) to (e) (required contents). The section carries two versions in the printed code: one effective until January 1, 2024 and one effective from that date. The second, which adds the standard Tax Commission form and the two-year history, governs now. Last amended in 2023 (session law chapter 35).
16. Idaho Code § 63-501A(1). The same subsection sets the fourth Monday of November for the subsequent roll, and the day the board adjourns at its January meeting for the missed roll.
17. The 2027 calendar dates in the table are computed from the statutory formulas (for example, the first Monday in June 2027 is June 7). Sections: Idaho Code § 63-302(1) (March 15); Idaho Code § 63-706(1) (January 1 to April 15); Idaho Code § 63-602(3)(b) (April 15 and May 15); Idaho Code § 63-109(1) (first Monday of April); Idaho Code § 63-301A(2), Idaho Code § 63-308(2), Idaho Code § 63-310, Idaho Code § 63-501, Idaho Code § 63-509, Idaho Code § 63-803(3), Idaho Code § 63-311 and Idaho Code § 63-903(1). Under Idaho Code § 63-217(4), a tax filing that falls due on a weekend or legal holiday is timely the next business day.
18. Idaho Code § 63-314(1) (five-year cycle, 15/35/55/75/100 percent schedule, annual indexing, records of last appraisal, plan to the Tax Commission), (3) (commissioners must furnish funds and personnel; levy of up to .04 percent of market value into the property valuation fund; .04 percent is $40 on each $100,000), and (6) (extensions of up to two years). The section has not been amended since 2003.
19. Idaho Code § 63-205C (valuation of agricultural land). The section was redesignated from the old 63-602K in 2020 (session law chapter 313). Subsection (5) directs the Tax Commission to adopt rules setting out how economic rent, average crop rental and capitalization rates are established.
20. Idaho Code § 63-604 (land actively devoted to agriculture defined). Subsection (3) excludes land in a platted subdivision with stated restrictions that prohibit agricultural use; subsection (4) excludes land used for a horse or other animals kept "primarily for personal use or pleasure."
21. Idaho Code § 63-602G(1) (first $125,000 of market value or 50 percent, whichever is less), (2) (owner-occupied primary dwelling; Tax Commission uniform-appraisal certification; owner certifications), (4) (one application while conditions hold), (5) (effective as of January 1; application by the last business day of the year; approvals after the second Monday in July granted as tax cancellations). Amended in 2024, twice in 2025 (session law chapters 167 and 202) and again in 2026 (chapter 236); confirm the current text before relying on any figure here.
22. Idaho State Tax Commission, Homeowner's Exemption (agency guidance; says the exemption covers 50 percent of the value of the home and up to one acre, to a maximum of $125,000, and lists the maximum at $125,000 for 2021 through 2025). The page was read on October 13, 2026.
23. Idaho Code § 63-602G(6)(a) (assessor investigates duplicate claims; recovery of exemption improperly claimed, up to seven years; first duplicate claim carries a penalty equal to the recovered tax; a repeat within seven years is a misdemeanor; county-error recoveries may be waived by the commissioners), (6)(b) (Tax Commission shares information with the assessor, commissioners, clerk, treasurer and secretary of state; use for voting residence; exempt from chapter 1, title 74), (6)(d) (30-day appeal to the county board of equalization), and (11) (searchable Tax Commission database of active exemptions, due by July 1, 2023).
24. Idaho Code § 63-602G(3) (form must collect the homeowner's "full name, date of birth, complete address, and most recent previous complete address" and, as applicable, an Idaho driver's license or identification card number).
25. Idaho Code § 63-602(3) (exemptions generally approved annually by the commissioners unless otherwise provided; list of exemptions that need no application; April 15 application and May 15 notice for those that do; appeal to the county board of equalization). Section 63-602 was amended in 2026 (session law chapter 288); read the current subsection (3)(a) list before telling an owner that no application is needed.
26. Idaho Code § 63-701(1) (claimant categories, which include age 65 or older, widow or widower, disabled, disabled veteran, blind, a fatherless or motherless child under 18, and certain former prisoners of war or hostages) and (2) (homestead limited to the dwelling and up to one acre). A claimant must also have filed a homeowner's exemption application under § 63-602G.
27. Idaho Code § 63-705(1) (income limit: the greater of $37,000 per household or 185 percent of the federal poverty guideline for a household of two), (2) (home worth more than the greater of $400,000 or 200 percent of the county median for homes with the exemption is referred to the deferral program in §§ 63-712 to 63-721; county reports the median to the Tax Commission by the first Monday in June), (3) (maximum reduction of $1,500, scaled down to $250 at the highest income limit) and (4) (annual cost-of-living adjustments published by October 1).
28. Idaho State Tax Commission, Property Tax Reduction (agency guidance for the 2027 program: reduction of $250 to $1,500; 2026 income of $40,030 or less after medical expenses; apply between January 1 and April 15, 2027). Read on October 13, 2026. The Commission republishes these figures each year.
29. Idaho Code § 63-705A (special reduction for a veteran with a 100 percent service-connected disability: $1,500 or the actual tax, whichever is less, with no income documentation; a veteran with a permanent and total rating need not reapply each year).
30. Idaho Code § 63-703(1) (claims signed under the penalty for stating a false material fact; "the claim and its documentation shall not be deemed to be public records and may not be used for any commercial purpose," except as provided in § 63-707; the Tax Commission and assessor may publish statistical analysis). Tax reduction roll certified to the auditor and the Tax Commission by June 1: Idaho Code § 63-707(2).
31. Idaho Code § 63-803(2) (auditor tells each district its taxable value), (3) (district certifies its budget in dollars to the commissioners not later than the Thursday before the second Monday in September, with an extension of up to seven working days on application; commissioners then "make a tax levy as a percent of taxable value" that will meet the certified budgets).
32. Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(a)(i) and (ii) (highest certified amount of the prior three tax years, plus a growth factor of up to 3 percent, plus new construction and annexation value; total increase capped at 8 percent, or 15 percent for fire protection and ambulance districts), (1)(h) (permanent increase needs two-thirds voter approval), (3) (override for up to two years by majority vote), (4) (bonds, voter-approved override levies and similar items sit outside the cap). Amended in 2025 and twice in 2026 (session law chapters 197 and 316). The full budget-cap analysis is in the Budgets, Taxation & Fiscal Duty module.
33. Idaho Code § 63-301A(1) (contents of the roll), (2) (certified to the auditor by the first Monday in June; district-by-district listing to the Tax Commission on or before the fourth Monday in July), (3) (90 percent of the taxable market value increase from qualifying new construction) and (4) ("It shall not include any change in value of existing property that is due to external market forces such as general or localized inflation"). Amended in 2026 twice: session law chapter 19 (House Bill 551, signed March 11, 2026, retroactive to January 1, 2026) and chapter 197.
34. Idaho Code § 63-802(1)(a)(i): the preliminary levy rate "shall be multiplied by the value shown on the new construction roll compiled pursuant to section 63-301A." Fire and ambulance districts use the prior year's levy rate for the same step. New construction inside an urban renewal revenue allocation area is generally kept off the roll by § 63-301A(3)(f). The Urban Renewal and Tax Increment Financing lesson covers the exceptions.
35. Idaho Const. art. VII, § 12 (State Tax Commission; boards of county commissioners "shall constitute boards of equalization for their respective counties"). Text at the Legislature's site.
36. Idaho Code § 63-501(1) (monthly meetings through the fourth Monday of June; adjourn by the second Monday of July; assessor or designee attends and may offer testimony) and (2) (subsequent roll: meets the fourth Monday of November, adjourns by the first Monday of December; missed roll heard at the January meeting). Last amended in 2012.
37. Idaho Code § 63-502 (function of the board "confined strictly to assuring that the market value for assessment purposes of property has been found by the assessor," plus exemption complaints; taxpayer carries the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence). See also Idaho Code § 63-506 (before raising a value the board must notify the owner and wait ten working days after mailing, unless the owner appears sooner), Idaho Code § 63-505 (subpoena power) and Idaho Code § 63-507 (clerk records all proceedings and the names of everyone heard).
38. Idaho Code § 63-511(1) (30 days after mailing of notice of the decision or pronouncement at a hearing; who may appeal; payment of taxes not suspended), (2) (notice of appeal filed with the county auditor), (3) (same period for district court) and (4) (burden of proof, including the shift when the increase exceeds 10 percent of the prior year's value and resulted in part from the assessor failing to use the equalization methods required by § 63-208). Amended in 2025 (session law chapter 202).
39. Idaho Code § 63-3801 (independent body, not subject to Tax Commission supervision), Idaho Code § 63-3802 (three members appointed by the governor with Senate consent; no member may hold an elective office or a public office involving assessment of taxes), Idaho Code § 63-3809(4) (after a timely notice of appeal, hearing and decision no later than May 1, unless all parties agree in writing to delay) and Idaho Code § 63-3810 (motion for rehearing within ten days of mailing).
40. Idaho Board of Tax Appeals, bta.idaho.gov (agency guidance: no filing fee; legal representation not required; notice of appeal from a county board of equalization decision must be filed with the county auditor, with a separate notice for each parcel; appeals of Tax Commission decisions on circuit breaker and disabled veterans benefits go directly to the Board within 30 days). Read on October 13, 2026. Procedural rules: IDAPA 36.01.01.
41. Idaho Code § 63-3812 (appeal to the district court of the taxpayer's county of residence or the county where the property sits, perfected under Rule 84 of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure; trial de novo without a jury; burden on the party seeking relief; taxes still due; appeal to the Supreme Court from the final order). The statute does not state the number of days. Rule 84 sets the clock, and the Board's decision letter should repeat it. The author did not verify the current Rule 84 deadline for this page; confirm it before relying on any date.
42. Idaho Code § 63-3813 (a final Board decision that changes market value and is not further appealed is fixed for the year appealed, with no increase the next year absent physical change to the property, though annual trending or equalization applied to a whole class or area still applies).
43. Other appeal clocks: newly occupied property, 28 days from the assessor's notice (Idaho Code § 63-317(3)(b)(i)); homeowner's exemption refusal or recovery decisions, 30 days to the county board of equalization (Idaho Code § 63-602G(6)(d)); a denial of circuit breaker benefits, 30 days directly to the Board of Tax Appeals (Board of Tax Appeals website, above).
44. Idaho Code § 63-101 (four members, no more than two of one political party, six-year terms, appointed by the governor with Senate consent) and Idaho Const. art. VII, § 12.
45. Idaho Code § 63-105A: (1) supervise and coordinate county boards of equalization; (4) correct erroneous assessments; (7) reconvene a county board of equalization; (8) require prosecuting attorneys to act on violations of assessment law; (14) administrative construction binding on the inquiring officer until judicially overruled; (15) require an assessor to attend; (16) analyze assessors' work and, if an assessor refuses to correct or add property, prepare a supplemental roll; (17) education and certification.
46. Idaho Code § 63-109(1) (notice of alleged improper assessment of a category to the assessor and the commissioners by the first Monday of April, with supporting findings; no equalization without it), (2) (power to raise or lower the total value of a category in a county and to compel reassessment) and (4) (copies of any order to the assessor, commissioners and Board of Tax Appeals within two weeks; commissioners notify affected owners within two weeks with a new assessment notice). Subsection (3) allows later notice in two defined cases, no later than the Monday after the county board adjourns in July.
47. Idaho Code § 63-316(1) (after a hearing, the Commission orders corrections; if the assessor and commissioners refuse, it adjusts the roll itself) and (2) (a county that misses the § 63-314 program can be put under the Commission's exclusive control, with costs withheld from its sales tax distribution).
48. Idaho Code § 63-208(1): the recognized appraisal methods must "require the assessment of such property to reflect, within reasonable statistical certainty, the median ratio of assessed value to market value for the categories of property being tested within a range of ninety percent (90%) to one hundred ten percent (110%) of market value," and each category must be provably no more than five percentage points different in level from each other category tested.
49. Idaho State Tax Commission, Ratio Studies (agency guidance: the Commission is "responsible for making sure each county assessor is assessing property at market value" and reports results to the State Board of Equalization, which can review and adjust categories that fail).
50. Idaho State Tax Commission, Property Tax Policy Bureau, memorandum to county assessors, "2025 Ratio Study," July 17, 2026 (publication EPB00660, PDF). Figures used here: 25,689 improved residential sales; median ratio 94.85; 16 primary categories in 14 counties out of compliance at 90 percent confidence (5 categories in 5 counties in the 2024 study); 5 of those also failed the five-point spread between categories; 9.8 percent of categories failed the coefficient of dispersion test and 43.2 percent failed the price-related differential test; Clark County had too few sales to test. The memo cites property tax rule 131 (IDAPA 35.01.03.131).
51. Idaho Code § 63-602G(2)(b): the exemption may be granted only if the Tax Commission has certified to the commissioners that all properties subject to the assessor have been appraised uniformly so as to secure a just valuation.
52. Idaho Code § 74-102(1) (presumption of openness), (4) (written request describing records and a date range; requester's name, addresses, phone and a sworn statement whether the requester is a resident) and (16) (an elected official must designate a records custodian). Amended in 2025 (session law chapter 298).
53. Idaho Code § 74-107(24) (records of a county assessor, the Tax Commission, a county board of equalization or the Board of Tax Appeals containing personal property lists filed under § 63-302, operating statements, and confidential commercial or financial information are exempt; the taxpayer must mark claimed pages; seven categories of information remain open). Also Idaho Code § 74-107(3) (appraisals of real property before a public agency buys, sells or leases it are exempt).
54. Idaho Code § 63-310: the assessor certifies the roll and delivers it with all exemption claims to the clerk of the board on or before the fourth Monday of June, and the roll and claims "must remain in the office of the clerk until the second Monday of July for the inspection of all persons interested." How this inspection right fits with the confidentiality rules in § 63-703 and § 74-107(24) is not settled by the text; ask the clerk what is available.
55. Idaho Code § 74-103(1) to (5): requests go to the designated custodian and must say they are public records requests; residents get a grant or denial within three working days, extendable in writing to no more than ten working days; nonresidents 21 days, extendable to 35; silence is a denial; a denial must be in writing, cite its statutory authority and state the appeal right. Amended in 2024 and 2025.
56. Idaho Code § 74-115(1) (sole remedy is a petition to the district court within 180 calendar days of the mailing of a denial), Idaho Code § 74-116(2) (costs and fees to the prevailing party only if the request or refusal was frivolously pursued) and Idaho Code § 74-117 (civil penalty of up to $1,000 against an official who deliberately and in bad faith refuses a legitimate request).
57. Idaho Code § 74-102(10): no fee for the first two hours of labor or the first 100 pages for a resident (a); actual labor and copying costs beyond that, with labor billed at the pay rate of the lowest-paid employee able to do the work (b), (e); itemized statements, no lump sums (h); fee waiver when a resident shows the request meets all three public-benefit conditions in (f); nonresident fees up to actual cost (g); advance payment allowed (12).
58. Idaho Code § 31-2102(1) (treasurer is ex officio tax collector) and Idaho Code § 63-803(3) (commissioners set the levy). The treasurer and clerk offices are covered in the County Treasurer module and the County Clerk module.
59. Idaho Code § 63-302(1): "Any willful failure to personally contact each personal property owner, shall be deemed malfeasance in office and grounds for the removal of the assessor from office." The same subsection says a failure to make contact does not invalidate an assessment or excuse the owner from filing.
60. Idaho Code § 63-312(1) and (2) (the assessor swears that each roll is a true and complete statement of market value; if the affidavit is left off, the commissioners must require it, and on refusal the chairman must file a verified information in district court charging neglect of duty). A missing affidavit does not void the roll.
61. Idaho Code § 31-2002 (the Attorney General may investigate allegations that a county elected officer violated state criminal law in his or her official capacity, without displacing the county prosecutor). Amended in 2025 (session law chapter 296).
62. Idaho Code § 63-314(6), (7): the commission reports any extension granted to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee and the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee.
63. Idaho Code § 34-1701(2)(a) (assessor subject to recall); Idaho Code § 34-1702(3) (petition filed with the county clerk, signed by registered electors equal to 20 percent of those registered at the last general election held in the county to elect county officers at which the officer was elected); Idaho Code § 34-1703(3) (reasons stated in no more than 200 words); Idaho Code § 34-1704 (prospective petition signed by at least 20 electors; 75 days to gather signatures after approval of form); Idaho Code § 34-1707(2) (five business days to resign before a special election is ordered); Idaho Code § 34-1713(1) (no circulation until the officer has held office 90 days). Amended in 2025 (chapter 205) as to § 34-1702.