Your bank account received a nice Christmas present, but you probably didn't notice.

It wasn't under the tree.

Going back to 1995, Kootenai Health has declined to exercise its authority to tax your property. That's right; the hospital's trustees at any time could have had the county collect property tax from you, but because they've been fiscally sound and sensitive members of the community, they've found other ways to meet their financial obligations.

You can read more about it in the January issue of North Idaho Business Journal, which will be inserted in tomorrow's Press, but Kootenai Health has demonstrated exemplary respect for the taxpayers' hard-earned dollars. Your hospital has a foregone tax balance - the amount of taxes it is legally allowed to collect but has not - of $13,541,885. That's great news for taxpayers and worth at least one hearty toast on New Year's Eve.

Here's more good news: In the interview with North Idaho Business Journal, Kootenai Health CEO Jon Ness said the organization's trustees have shown no appetite to tap that excessive balance or to start collecting property taxes in the future. They're determined to keep the public's hospital fiscally healthy without joining the tax-collection brigade. And they're not alone.

According to Idaho Tax Commission officials, statewide there's a foregone balance of some $91 million. Yes, that kind of consideration for taxpayers is worthy of a parade and speeches, but there's something ominous about foregone taxes: The entities that accumulate foregone balances can collect the whole amount at any time.

Kootenai Health's track record and long-range plan do well to keep county taxpayers out of harm's way, but simply knowing they could call in a $13.5 million marker is enough to warrant a quick visit to the emergency room. We encourage legislators to look hard at that provision in state code and find an equitable way to sunset foregone balances that aren't tapped within a year or two of their creation.