Idaho moves ahead on plan to appraise federal land for taxes

By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Only one business responded to a plan by lawmakers to hire a technology company to appraise federal land in real-time to find out how much money lawmakers say the federal government should be paying the state in property taxes if the land were privately owned. Lawmakers on the Committee on Federalism on Thursday expressed concern at the low number, but took the next step to authorize a request for proposals that could lead to hiring a company for the work. Idaho is roughly 63% federal public land. But that land isn’t taxable by local governments. The Legislature earlier this year tasked the committee with finding out how much revenue that land would bring in if it were.