Taxes

There's a lot to cover, here! Today, we'll just cover the basics. If you're looking for the answer to "how do I do the calculation to find out exactly what I would be paying?" -- scroll down :)

Idaho Law sets the maximum levy to 0.060%. Based on budget figures from comparable districts, it looks like our levy would be about 0.032%. Doing the calculation on my pretty average home, it comes to $25/year. This would change based on several variables, including things like "how much money will the district put into savings"? At the very most, even if the library district were to tax me at the maximum, it would be under $48/year.

A district cuts out the "middle man". Instead of funneling tax money from the county tax collector through a city bureaucracy, the funds come directly from the county to the district itself. No city government has the authority to adjust the budgets in any way - because it's not their budget. District libraries are 100% managed by people focused only on the managing of a library - unlike city governments which have many departments that must be prioritized.

How do I do the calculation to find out exactly what I would be paying?

Because everybody's property value is different, it's hard to give a "generic" answer to what the district would cost you, specifically. There is, however, an easy way to find out, using the Payette County Tax Statement that you receive every year (usually around October) from the Payette County Tax Collector. Every property owner in the county receives this statement.

The statement breaks down what you are already paying in property taxes, and shows you where those tax dollars are going. Usually, your mortgage company pays this automatically from your escrow account.

For example, on mine (shown below), it shows that I am paying $18.91 per year for the Ambulance service and $449.42 per year to the City of Payette.

To determine what amount you would be paying for a library district, should the voters approve it, take the number from the "Total Taxable" line (in my case, it's $46,476) and multiply by 0.0006 (which would be the maximum that a library district can legally tax - we don't anticipate it being nearly that high. We're looking closer at 0.000325).

In my case, $46,476 x 0.0006 = $27.89, which means that I would be paying a maximum of $27.89 per year, through my mortgage, to provide the county-wide library services. Based on the estimated budgets, it looks like it will be closer to $25.00 that I will be paying for the district.