BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
In-home child care centers will now be part of Boise’s property tax rebate program. Here’s what to know about this year’s changes as well as who will be able to participate:
Boise’s property tax rebate program, known as “Circuit Breaker,” will be kicking off for the third time in December, with nearly $1 million in funding available for homeowners who qualify. The program will target the more vulnerable members of the community, including those age 65 and older who meet income requirements. In prior years, participants who qualified were able to save hundreds on their property tax bill.
HOW TO QUALIFY
Though the deadline for this year’s Circuit Breaker program — which reduced property tax payments for December 2024 and June 2025 — passed in April of this year, the next application opportunity will open in December and offer qualifying homeowners a reduction of up to $1,500 in their property tax bill, city budget documentation shows.
Households will begin receiving letters for the program on Dec. 4. Both new applicants and households who previously qualified must reapply between Dec. 1 and March 31, 2025 in order to see a reduction in their 2025 property taxes, Lindsay Moser, the city of Boise’s senior manager of public engagement, said Tuesday during a city council work session. A total of $925,000 in rebate funding has been earmarked for participants that meet the following criteria:
- Be an Idaho resident.
- Own and occupy a home or mobile home valued at less than $400,000 or less than 200% of the median assessed value for the county (for Ada County, the estimated median assessed value for 2024 was $436,200, according to city budget documents).
- Have a “total income” for the 2023 calendar year of $37,000 or less
- Be either 65 years of age or older, a former prisoner of war, a widow or widower, blind or disabled.
The program’s income threshold is slightly above the $34,300 determined to be 50% of the city’s one-person median income, according to Boise’s income and affordable rent guidelines.
New for this year, in-home child care providers — providers who offer childcare services out of a private residence — will also be eligible for the program. To qualify, the provider has to be licensed, has to own their home and has to be actively providing childcare services.
Two additional minor changes will be coming this year: checks will now only be sent to the property address on record, and estates and trusts may not be eligible for the program after the death of the property owner, Eric Bilimoria, finance director for the city of Boise, said.
WHEN DID THE PROGRAM BEGIN?
Idaho House Bill 550 was passed in March 2022 and has allowed Idaho municipalities to offer property tax rebates using general funds. While Boise has the resources necessary to administer the program, these requirements have been prohibitive for other areas in the program’s current state, Bilimoria said.
“We have advocated for certain changes, and will continue to advocate for changes that would reduce the administrative burden of this program, but as far as we know at this point, we are still the only city that is participating in this,” Bilimoria said.
The program has been in place in Boise for the two previous fiscal years. In fiscal year 2023, $991,662 in payments were made to 1,518 participants, who received an average payment of $654. In fiscal year 2024, $486,000 in payments were made to 1,394 participants, who received an average payment of $355.
The difference in average payment from the first to second year of the program stemmed from statewide relief that was implemented in fiscal year 2024 along with a lower number of individuals who were eligible for a rebate, Bilimoria said. Participation rates in the program did increase slightly from the first to second year, however, from 88% to 93%, respectively.
“This is our third year that we’ve done this and we’ve continued to see a higher participation rate every year,” Moser said. “So we’re going to continue the strategy that we’ve used in the past.”
The aforementioned letter coming in December will provide information on the program along with an application that requires a Social Security number and a signature. Two postcards will also be sent out in January and February for outstanding applications. Additional canvassing efforts will commence in March to ensure the maximum number of eligible participants participate in the program, Moser said.
“It is an amazing program,” Jimmy Hallyburton, Boise city council member, said. “I get to knock on all sorts of doors throughout the year for a lot of different things, and this is by far the best, because you can tell that it’s (for) people who truly need it.”
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
