A former Idaho state senator brought an ambitious tax proposal to North Idaho last week, arguing before a small crowd in Post Falls that the state should phase out property taxes entirely — a move he says would restore genuine private ownership for Idaho residents.

Scott Herndon, who previously represented a North Idaho district in the Idaho Senate, made his case Friday evening at Highlands Golf Course Grill and Taphouse. Roughly 30 people attended the gathering, where Herndon laid out both a philosophical argument and a policy mechanism for eliminating what he called Idaho’s foundational tax burden.

The Core Argument

Herndon’s critique centered on the nature of property ownership under a system that allows government to seize land for nonpayment. Under Idaho law, the state can take possession of property after three consecutive years of unpaid taxes.

As first reported by the CDA Press, Herndon told the audience: “As long as the government has a claim on your property, and if you don’t pay, they’ll take it. You’re just renting from the government.”

He also pointed to what he described as the human cost of the current system, noting the burden placed on those with limited incomes. “It’s the couple on a fixed income that is eating two meals a day instead of three so that they can pay their local property tax bill,” Herndon told the CDA Press.

Herndon also cited Pung v. Isabella County, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision involving tax foreclosure sales, as legal context supporting his position that property tax enforcement raises serious ownership questions.

Historical Context

Herndon traced Idaho’s tax history to support his argument that property taxes are not an inevitable feature of state finance. The property tax dates to 1863, making it the oldest tax in the state. The income tax followed in 1931, packaged at the time as the “Property Tax Relief Act” and paired with a temporary, dollar-for-dollar reduction in property tax funding that lasted four years before expiring. The sales tax came later, enacted in 1965 under Gov. Robert Smylie.

Herndon argued this history demonstrates that Idaho has layered new revenue streams onto the original property tax rather than replacing it — and that a deliberate replacement strategy is now possible.

The Proposed Mechanism

Rather than an immediate repeal, Herndon outlined a gradual phase-out. His plan would scale up collections from existing income and sales tax revenue over time to offset and ultimately eliminate property tax assessments.

Local services would continue operating under local boards, with the state assuming responsibility for funding base costs. Herndon pointed to Idaho’s school funding structure as a working model: schools currently receive roughly 79 percent of their funding from the state while remaining locally governed.

Because Idaho operates under Dillon’s Rule — meaning the legislature holds ultimate authority over local governments — Herndon argued the state has both the legal power and the structural tools to implement such a shift without dismantling local control in practice.

Reception and Road Ahead

Attendee Bill Green described the proposal as a “great idea,” reflecting a favorable reception among those who came out Friday evening. Still, the audience of around 30 represents a limited political footprint for what would be one of the most sweeping tax changes in Idaho’s history.

Property tax relief has been a persistent topic in the Idaho Legislature, driven in part by rising assessed values across the state. Idaho opened its current fiscal year with a $14 million revenue surplus in July, a figure that supporters of alternative funding mechanisms may point to as evidence the state can absorb structural tax changes.

Any formal legislative proposal would face significant debate over local government finance, school funding formulas, and the long-term reliability of income and sales tax revenues as property tax substitutes. Ongoing scrutiny of state tax administration adds another layer of complexity to any major overhaul effort.

Herndon has not announced whether he plans to pursue the proposal through formal legislative channels, and it remains unclear whether any current lawmakers have signaled interest in carrying the idea forward in the 2027 session.