63-1305C. TAXATION AND REFUND OF PROPERTY TAXES COLLECTED ON A TAX EXEMPT PROPERTY. (1) It is the intent of the legislature that property that is being constructed or renovated to fulfill a purpose that is exempt from taxation under the constitution or the laws of Idaho shall not be subject to property tax during the period of construction or renovation preparatory to its completion for a tax exempt use.

(2) A property owner may apply to the board of county commissioners for a provisional property tax exemption at the time that a building permit is applied for or at the time that construction or renovation of the property begins, whichever is earlier, or at any time thereafter during construction or renovation of the property. If the board of county commissioners finds that the intended use of the property, once construction or renovation has been completed, qualifies for a property tax exemption under the constitution or the laws of the state of Idaho, it shall grant a provisional property tax exemption, conditioned on the achievement of the intended tax exempt purpose. Any property with a provisional property tax exemption shall not be included on the county assessor’s new construction roll, and no taxes shall be assessed on the property during the period of its exemption.

(3) Once construction or renovation of a property with a provisional property tax exemption has been completed, the board of county commissioners shall review the tax exempt status of the completed property. In the event that the property does not qualify for a tax exemption, the board of county commissioners shall revoke the provisional property tax exemption and the property owner shall be liable for back taxes that would have been due on the property during construction, if not for the granting of the provisional property tax exemption. Property that is actually used for its intended tax exempt purpose shall be granted a property tax exemption by the board of county commissioners, if such approval is required under section 63-602, Idaho Code.

(4) In the event that property taxes have been assessed and collected on a property during the time that it qualified for a provisional property tax exemption and whose owner applied for a provisional property tax exemption during construction or renovation, the property owner may apply to the board of county commissioners for a refund of the property taxes within five (5) years of the payment of such taxes. The board of county commissioners shall order a refund of any property taxes imposed on a tax exempt property. The county commissioners shall refund the collected taxes to the owner within forty-five (45) days of a finding by the county commissioners or of an order by the board of tax appeals or a court that the taxes should not have been collected on the property. If the property is only partially exempt, the county commissioners may apply the amount to be refunded as a credit against taxes due from the taxpayer in the following year or may use a combination of both a payment and a credit to effect the refund.

(5) As used in this section, "refund" includes property tax described in subsection (4) of this section found by the county commissioners, the board of tax appeals or a court to have been overpaid and not lawfully due, interest due on the refund of such tax, costs and any other amounts ordered paid by a court or the board of tax appeals.

(6) In the event a refund is paid, payments must be made by warrants drawn on the county’s current expense fund by the county auditor. The auditor shall apportion the amount of property taxes canceled as credit to the tax collector. The auditor shall charge the various funds and taxing districts with their proportionate share of the refund and credit the current expense fund.

(7) If a credit is given the following year, the credit shall be allowed against actual property taxes assessed to the taxpayer by the taxing districts that received the taxes being refunded.

(8) Amounts equal to the refunds or credits allowed in this section may not be included in amounts certified pursuant to sections 63-802 through 63-807, Idaho Code.

History:

[63-1305C, added 2018, ch. 194, sec. 1, p. 430.]