POST FALLS — Former Idaho State Sen. Scott Herndon criticized Idaho state property taxes during a recent public address at the Highlands Golf Course Grill and Taphouse on Friday. 

He argued to a room of around 30 people that property taxes prevent true private ownership and should be abolished statewide. 

“As long as the government has a claim on your property, and if you don’t pay, they’ll take it,” he said. “You’re just renting from the government.” 

He cited Idaho law allowing seizure after three years of nonpayment and referenced Pung vs. Isabella County, a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that established that when a tax foreclosure sale is fairly conducted, a former owner's constitutional compensation is measured by the sale's surplus proceeds rather than the property's fair market value.

“They went for the low market value, because that’s all you deserve,” Herndon said. 

He traced property tax’s history in Idaho, noting that it is the “original tax in Idaho” after its creation in 1863. He said the 1931 income tax act was packaged as the “Property Tax Relief Act,” with a temporary dollar-for-dollar reduction in property tax funding of the state government that lasted for four years. He detailed the 1965 sales tax under Gov. Robert Smylie and said it was also sold as property tax relief but said the government doesn’t remove an old tax because they add a new one. 

“Today, you now pay property tax, income tax and sales tax and the government just keeps on getting bigger and bigger,” he said. 

Herndon said his solutions rely on fiscal discipline at the state level rather than new, or higher, taxes. He said that existing growth income and sales tax collections, which are already used to partially cover the statewide property tax bill, could be scaled to eliminate the rest over time.

Under Herndon’s plan, local services would continue under local boards, while the state would fund the base costs. 

Herndon emphasized Idaho’s status as a Dillon’s Rule state, meaning the legislature already holds ultimate authority over local governments. He said schools already receive about 79% of their funding while remaining locally controlled. 

"It proves that the state could pay for things, and it still could be managed at a local level,” he said. 

Herndon said many people would benefit from the elimination of property taxes. His question: who benefits the most? 

“It’s the couple on a fixed income that is eating two meals a day instead of three so that they can pay their local property tax bill,” he said. 

Herndon said if he cut income tax and someone makes $1 million versus a person who makes $100,000, “the person who makes a million benefits the most in pure dollars” but that “the person who benefits the most in reality is the one that truly needs the help.” 

North Idaho resident Bill Green, who attended Friday’s event, said Herndon’s plan was a “great idea,” but something would have to take the place of property taxes “that people could agree on and that is fair.” 

“There would be a lot of details you would have to work out, but as a concept I thought it was great,” Green said.