Tax Exemption At Risk

​Hospital Property Tax Exemptions At Risk 

Why this matters: Removing property tax exemptions from nonprofit healthcare institutions is a dangerous precedent that puts our whole sector’s property tax exemptions at risk.
H0109 and H0110 are similar bills that limit the property that hospitals can claim as exempt. This type of legislation could encourage healthcare facilities to consolidate into centralized facilities which would further impact the lack of access to care experienced in rural areas of Idaho.

Residents of Idaho could also feel the financial impact as the cost would have to shift to consumers, disproportionately affecting low-middle-income Idahoans.  

Take Action Now: talking points when communicating to elected officials below

• Taxing medical services and thus raising the cost of healthcare in the counties would absolutely be passed on to patients in the form of higher bills and fewer charitable benefits.
  
  
• Nonprofits paying taxes would lead to providing less charitable care, thus hurting the people most in need of charity care.
  
  
• Charitable nonprofits earn their tax-exempt status every day by giving up profits, privacy, and politics. 
  
  
• Incentivizing hospitals to keep medical equipment in large hospitals for tax purposes will limit the care available to rural areas of Idaho. 

Both bills were introduced by Rep. Josh Tanner. However, HO110 moves the question of a hospital’s property tax exemption to county commissioners instead of a statewide decision that is outlined in H0109.

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​​Medicaid repeal is back on the table 
Why this matters: 145,000 Idahoans have coverage through Medicaid and many nonprofits serve clients who may rely on Medicaid. 

Last Friday, bill H0123 was introduced to repeal Medicaid expansion.

After recommending to keep the program –that provides health coverage to low-income Idahoans– mostly untouched for now, Rep. John Vander Woude introduced H0123 to “open discussion” about Medicaid and the costs associated with the expansion.

The bill has been printed and referred to Health and Welfare.  

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Relief for Renters
Why this matters: Rental fees impact the affordability of housing for people throughout Idaho. Including nonprofit employees and clients.

Property tax relief is a popular topic this session, with three bills introduced in the House over the last few weeks which aim to bring some relief to Idaho homeowners.

But what about renters? According to the American Community Survey, nearly 30% of households in Idaho are renters.

Sen. Ali Rabe, who also serves as the Executive Director of Idaho Nonprofit Jesse Tree, has two pieces of legislation that could help Idaho renters.

• S1039 eliminates unreasonable rental fees and would prohibit landlords from changing fee structures without a 30-day advance notice to renters.
  • Similar protections already exist in Idaho Code for mortgages and even storage units, but renters can see fees as high as $500/late payment, or $100/day that payment is late. 
    
    
• S1089 requires landlords to clearly outline which fees and requirements their units have when advertising a vacancy. 

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Idaho Public Television offers Idaho In Session, a gavel-to-gavel service that includes live on-air and online coverage of the Idaho Legislature.

You can also stay up to date on the latest legislative news on Idaho Reports, IdahoPTV’s weekly broadcast.
Is there a state agency that relates to your mission? You can now find information pertaining to all commissions' public meetings at Townhall Idaho.

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