Idaho Legislature: Ask Legislators to VOTE NO on H0406 - Property tax exemption, low income (posted 03/16/25)

• Bill: legislature.idaho.gov/s…

• Contact Legislators: emailidaho.com

(Check the linked page or use My Bill Tracker for the bill’s current status.)

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H0406 provides property tax exemption for qualified workforce and affordable housing developments. It allows non-profit organizations to partner with for profit entities on affordable housing projects and take advantage of other federal incentives for development.

This is an absolute NO. It is a socialist, fascist “public/private partnership” approach to city planning, and it’s wrong for Idaho. Encouraging “affordable housing” in states like Oregon, Washington, California, New York, etc. has led to their massive decline. Who benefits? The for profit and “non-profit” entities.

Quality of life for those already living in a location declines when “affordable housing” developments pop up like mushrooms. Who defines what’s affordable? (H0406 raises the income ceiling, so more people are classified as needing “affordable” housing.)

State government should NOT be partnering with non-profits to build anything, whether it’s through direct funding or tax exemptions. Non-profits and for profit companies can partner with each other, but they should get ZERO taxpayer funding or property tax exemptions to embark on housing projects.

Affordable housing projects have failed to help those who need them while making project developers wealthy. They also lead to 15-minute cities with concentrated housing that reduces everyone’s quality of life. Please do NOT expand this in Idaho.

Details:

• Revises qualification requirements for nonprofit organizations, removes previous language about state incorporation, and eliminates provision about tax benefits.

• Expands qualifying ownership structures that can qualify for exemption to include properties owned by limited partnerships or limited liability companies with qualified nonprofit organizations as general partners.

• Modifies income and rental requirements: Housing units must be rented to tenants earning an average of 60% or less of the area median income (increased from 50%).

• Property owners must annually certify to county assessors their continued adherence to low-income housing guidelines.

• Excludes properties with financing already closed or properties in service as of July 1, 2025, unless being rehabilitated or already receiving the exemption.

• Exempted properties not included on new construction rolls.

Selected References:

• State’s end-of-year affordable housing bonanza likely to leave dozens of near-ready projects ‘mothballed’: calmatters.org/housing/…

• The Failure of For-Profit Affordable Housing: urbanhabitat.org/wp-con…

• America’s Failed Experiment in Public Housing: