Bannock County to address Downey fire district tax mix-up

BANNOCK COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Some Downey residents were over charged for the city's rural fire district levy, while others weren't billed at all.

“What happened is the state software removed the city of Downey from the fire district, which is all around the city of Downey, so all of the people outside of Downey in the fire district got charged double, and the people in Downey didn’t get charged at all,” said Bannock County Commissioner Terrel Tovey.

Now, the Bannock County Commissioners are fixing the error. They consulted with the State Tax Commission, Downey Mayor Dennis Phillips and the rural fire district.

There will be a public hearing on the matter on Feb. 19. Details about that public hearing can be found here. There will be a community meeting in Downey for those who can't make the public hearing. That meeting has not been scheduled yet.

This was a state tax software issue, Tovey said. Somehow in the process of getting new software installed in the treasurer's office, the system didn't have the city of Downey listed as part of the fire district.

People who were not charged for the fire district levy will still have to pay their portion during this tax cycle.

Those who were charged double this year will receive a credit for the levy in next year's taxes. They will not get a refund this year.

“The people in Downey do have fire coverage, they’re covered. The fire district is aware of this,” Tovey said.

The commissioners are making sure this doesn't happen again.

“We’re recording it, we’re doing all the things we’re supposed to do, and we’ll get it sent off to the state tax commission and it should be taken care of,” said commissioner Ernie Moser.