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County's tax value drops
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - A $500 million drop in Kootenai County's taxable value this year was caused by a combination of declining property values and a change in state law, the county assessor said.
Mike McDowell said about $400 million of the decline was caused by lawmakers expanding the homeowner's exemption and changing how new development within urban renewal districts are calculated. The other $100 million, he said, was because of declining property values. ''The values of typical homes in town are still going down,'' he told the Coeur d'Alene press. ''I'd call it a price correction somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent.''
He said that $200 million of the taxable value within urban renewal districts no longer counts for the county. Urban renewal districts are intended to guide development for the public good. They typically operate on money generated through increases in property values - and thus the property taxes collected - after a district is formed.
''And, there was another $207 million of additional value exempted for the homeowners' exemption this year,'' McDowell said. The 2008 homeowners exemption increased from about $89,000 to $100,000.
The county's taxable value declined from $16.5 billion in 2007 to about $16 billion this year. Troy Tymesen, Coeur d'Alene financial director, said how much cities and other taxing entities receive in taxes is more affected by the amount of new construction and annexation.
''If that dries up, that's really going to put a hardship on our county and all the players that support the county,'' he said. ''New construction is where we've been successful. That's where we've been able to do what we've been able to do.'' Article RatingReader CommentsSubmit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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