Scott Herndon

Profession: Homebuilder and general contractor (owner, Herndon Inc.); former Idaho State Senator, Legislative District 1 

Education: Bachelor of Science in Finance 

Residency: Bonner County resident for 22 and a half years 

Contact: HerndonforIdaho.com; [email protected]

1. In the opening weeks of the session, I would introduce and fight for the phased elimination of Idaho’s property tax, funded by revenue the state already collects and by real spending discipline, with no new tax and no rate increase. I would push to hold state operating spending to population plus inflation, after Boise overspent that benchmark by $1.2 billion in six years. And I would defend the fundamentals North Idaho sent me to protect: the right to life, the Second Amendment, parental rights, and firm limits on government surveillance of ordinary, law-abiding citizens. 

2. First, property taxes. Families and retirees are taxed every year on homes they already own, on paper gains they never cashed in, and some lose those homes over it. Second, growth and affordability, which is driving up assessments, prices, and pressure on our land and water. Third, liberty. The fights over abortion, gun rights, parental authority, and mass surveillance all run through this seat. Each is significant because it decides whether North Idaho families keep their homes, keep their freedoms, and keep the character of the place they deliberately chose. 

3. On property taxes, scale the existing state buy-down I helped pass, already 13 percent, about $328 million, to 100 percent over roughly a decade, by dedicating revenue growth to the buy-down while holding spending to population plus inflation. No new tax, no rate increase, no service cut. On growth, protect private property rights and fund genuine new needs through a capped, voter-approved local option rather than an ever-rising property tax. On liberty, vote consistently to protect life, the Second Amendment, and parental rights, and to rein in warrantless surveillance such as automated license plate readers.

4. Growth should never cost you your land through taxation. The surest protection is ending the property tax, so a retiree is not forced out by newcomers bidding up assessments. Beyond that, I support strong private property rights, protecting public access to our land and water, and letting local voters, not Boise, decide growth-related funding through a capped local option they approve themselves. I oppose using growth as an excuse for bigger permanent government. Fund real infrastructure from the revenue growth we already collect, and keep decisions close to the people who live with them. 

5. Government surveillance of ordinary citizens. Automated license plate readers, such as Flock cameras, now scan and store the movements of law-abiding Idahoans who are suspected of nothing, often with weak limits on how long data is kept and who it is shared with. We are quietly building a permanent record of where free people go. It deserves far more attention, because once this infrastructure is in place it is very hard to remove, and the burden falls on the innocent. I support clear statutory limits on retention, access, and sharing. 

6. I already do it daily, and much of it happens in the open, on social media, where I am very active. I post my reasoning, share the actual bill text and the numbers behind my positions, and answer constituents directly, including the ones who disagree with me. It is one of the best ways to reach me, ask a question, or share an idea. I also attend town halls and community events, and I am reachable by phone and email. People deserve to see not just how I vote but why, with the sources in front of them. 

7. Yes. I once believed the right fix for property taxes was incremental relief, bigger homeowner exemptions and assessment caps. Studying it changed my mind. A fixed exemption erodes within a few years of appreciation, and it does not lower the overall tax, it only shifts the burden onto farmers, timber owners, and small businesses. That moved me to full elimination through a revenue buy-down instead. The principle never changed, protect people’s homes, but the evidence showed me the incremental approach would not deliver it. I follow the facts, even when they move me off my first instinct. 

8. I have already helped deliver real relief. I helped pass the current state buy-down, about $328 million a year, 13 percent of all property tax, and helped override the governor’s veto to do it. The state’s role is to replace the revenue stream, not the local budget, and doing so has never taken over a county or school board. We scale that buy-down to 100 percent using revenue growth while holding spending to population plus inflation. Services stay funded because we change who pays, not what gets paid. New local needs go to a capped, voter-approved local option. 

9. I do not just talk about ending the property tax, I helped pass the first step, the buy-down that already returns $328 million a year. I am a homebuilder who meets a payroll and a finance professional trained to read a budget, so when I say we can finish the job without a new tax, I have done the math and published it for anyone to check. I am a husband and father of eight with everything I own invested in this place. I will defend your home, your wallet, your family, and your freedoms as fiercely as my own.