Idaho Gov. Little wants to fix schools and provide property tax relief

Idaho Gov. Brad Little announced plans to invest $2 billion in school repairs over the next decade with the dual aim of repairing aging schools and providing property tax relief.

His plans, part of his proposed budget outlined in his State of the State speech, would also increase funding for drinking water and bridge repairs.

“We’ve all seen the pictures and videos of some Idaho schools that are neglected — crumbling, leaking, falling apart,” Little said Monday. “In one school I visited, raw sewage is seeping into a space under the cafeteria. Folks, we can do better. The can we’re kicking is getting heavier and we’re running out of road. Let’s make this priority number one.”

Property tax bills have soared in the state as population growth and a shortage of new housing stock has driven up home values.

“The average value of single-family homes in the state has increased by about 173% since the third quarter of 2011, compared with nearly 80% nationally,” according to an Idaho Department of Labor report released in summer 2022. “Within the state, discussions about potential sources of this growth have been centered primarily around out-of-state migration inflows and an inadequate supply of new housing.”

Little presented the $2 billion for school maintenance and construction as a form of long-term property tax relief as well as a way to repair aging schools.

School construction is largely paid for by property taxes, which means districts must rely on voter-approved levies for major maintenance and expansion projects. The funding method often means districts in higher-income areas, where levies are more likely to pass, have newer classrooms and better athletic facilities while districts in lower-income areas or with voters unwilling to pass levies are riddled with dilapidated buildings and the problems common to aging, poorly maintained buildings.

Little didn’t break down how the funding would be allocated, but noted that some of it would go to charter schools.

Two Republican lawmakers who have previously pushed for programs to let parents use taxpayer money to send their kids to private school, announced plans to redouble those efforts this year. Rep. Wendy Horman and state Sen. Lori Den Hartog, plan to float a bill to create a $50 million “parental choice tax credit” program that would provide parents with $5,000 grants or income tax credits for their kids to attend secular and religious private schools, home schools and other forms of “non-public” academic instruction.

Little didn’t cover Horman and Hartog’s proposal in his speech, but said he would support a responsible and transparent approach to expanding school choice in Idaho — one that doesn’t siphon money away from public schools.

His other two major policy proposals targeted the state’s water infrastructure and roads.

Lawmakers have already approved, at Little’s behest, he said, $1 billion in funding for projects to improve drinking water and wastewater treatment since he took office in 2019. But more needs to be done to prepare for future droughts.

“We have been blessed with ‘good’ water years,” Little said. “But we may be headed into a prolonged drought again, and prudence dictates we prepare.”

His infrastructure program, Idaho Works, also included funding for transportation and bridge repair. He said the state has already allocated $400 million to improve bridges, but this year’s proposals calls for an additional $50 million from the general fund toward $800 million in bond issuance. The money would help repair and replace the state’s remaining 300 bridges that are in poor condition, he said.

He would also dedicate $32 million for university projects and nearly half a million dollars for eight new medical residency programs.