Published July 8, 2014
Ada and Canyon County Homeowner's Exemption Application
Most people don't think too much about this form until they buy a new house and even then it's easy to forget about it until it's too late.
Did you know that Idaho gives you a homeowner's tax exemption (tax break) as long as you, the owner, occupy your home? The exemption includes the value of your home and up to one acre of land.
The Tax Commission is required by law to recompute the homeowner's exemption limit each year, based on the Federal Housing Price Index for Idaho. The agency simply administers what the law says; it's not involved in decision-making. The Index is the same throughout the state and isn't adjusted to reflect housing price changes that vary in different parts of Idaho. That means a taxpayer's home value may increase, but the home is still subject to a lower homeowner's exemption.
If you don't agree that your assessed value reflects the market value of your property on January 1st (calculated before subtracting the homeowner's exemption) or have questions, you can contact them at:
Ada County Assessor's Office
190 E. Front St., Ste. 107, Boise, ID 83702
(208) 287-7200 Fax (208) 287-7209
https://adacounty.id.gov/assessor/administration/homeowners-exemption/
Canyon County Assessor's Office
111 N. 11th Ave, Caldwell, ID 83605
(208) 454-7431 Fax (208) 454-7349
https://www.canyonco.org/exemptions/
If you just have questions about how your value was developed, please call your county assessor before that date.
Value changes don't equal tax changes. Since taxes are based on the budgets of taxing districts, those districts can budget the same amount from property tax from one year to the next, but when property values go down, the levy rate goes up automatically to compensate. If one property's value increases more than others, its taxes go up faster than others. For most taxing districts, budgets are set in August or early September, so final property tax amounts aren't certain until then.
