Idaho Representative Priscilla Giddings will get more time to pay or dispute a property tax bill from 2016.
The White Bird Republican received a stay due to her military service until April 1st of an Ada County notice ordering her to repay $1,200 for claiming a homeowner’s exemption while also claiming to live in Idaho County. Giddings, a major in the Air Force Reserves who served nine years on active duty and three combat deployments, cited a federal law that permits a stay of civil actions against a member of the military.
She submitted a letter to the county assessor, signed by her Air Force commander, saying she is currently serving. Giddings owns a home in Garden City and claimed a homeowner’s exemption from property taxes from 2010 to 2016. Giddings also claimed an exemption in Idaho County in 2016 for a newly built home that came onto the tax rolls in March. That double-claiming is allowed in cases of new construction, where the homeowner moves partway through the year.
However, in order to run for office from Idaho County, Giddings had to be a resident of her legislative district for a full year before the November 2016 election. She switched her voter registration to an address in Idaho County on property owned by her father in January 2015.
Giddings has maintained that she acted properly with regard to the exemption. (Spokesman-Review)
