Budget writers try again on Tax Commission budget

BOISE — State budget writers met Wednesday to take up failed budgets — including the Idaho State Tax Commission appropriation, which has funds to implement the school choice tax credit.

That Tax Commission’s budget died on the Senate floor Monday, largely over frustration from senators that House Bill 93 had a higher cost to administer than they had previously been told, the Idaho Press reported. 

The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC) on Wednesday approved a new version of the budget that cut $100 from the original request, totaling $674,900 to administer the private school choice tax credit program approved this year. The funds to administer it would be taken out of the $50 million that had been approved to administer the program, bringing the total funding available for credits to just over $49.32 million.

The money would go toward seven full-time employees, two positions of which would be for only two years, and $125,000 in one-time money that would go toward coding and programming costs.

There was little discussion at the budget-setting meeting Wednesday, other than some confusion by members over the difference between the new budget and the one that died on the Senate floor. The only change was a $100 reduction in the amount of money toward the seven new employees.

JFAC voted 16-2 to approve the new budget. It will now go to the House and Senate floors.

Concerns over implementation cost

Debate on the Senate floor centered on the significant difference between the budget request to implement HB 93 and what the projected costs of the program were when the chamber voted on the policy bill.

Under HB 93, the tax commission would be tasked with providing up to $5,000 in credit per student, or $7,500 for each student with disabilities, for educational expenses, including private school tuition. Passage of the bill marked the first time Idaho would allow state funds to go to private K-12 education.

The bill’s primary sponsors, Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, have said they provided their best estimate on the bill’s fiscal note — which is a projection of how much a policy would cost — when the chambers voted on it. The lawmakers said they received more information from the tax commission after the bill had already passed.

When House members voted on the bill on Feb. 7, the predicted cost was $125,000 in one-time money for programming and coding, and two full-time positions at no extra cost because of existing vacancies.

When the bill went to the Senate for a vote on Feb. 19, the projected cost went up to three full-time employees and five seasonal employees for a total of $255,800 when including the one-time costs for programming and coding.

Public records obtained by the Idaho Press show that as early as Dec. 18 — before the 2025 legislative session — tax commission staff had been estimating a high cost to implement with a need for at least 10 full-time employees. 

Tax Commission Chairman Jeff McCray wrote in an email to a member of Gov. Brad Little’s staff, Sara Stover, that he had shared a document with House Speaker Mike Moyle and Majority Leader Jason Monks at a Dec. 18 meeting indicating 10 full-time personnel would be needed. Monks was a co-sponsor on HB 93.

Another record shows a Jan. 21 text message from tax commission Government Affairs Manager Aaron Yost to Monks, that said, “... we are close on the administrative cost for school choice, it is 10 FTP (working on the numbers needed for these Individuals) plus $125,000 upfront development costs. My Financial officer is putting final details on FTP together now.”

FTP refers to full-time positions.

Monks responded, “Seems awfully steep. 10 ftp is a lot. I thought we were at 5.”

Yost wrote that 10 “has been the ask,” adding that it would be for support across different divisions including, processing, call center and communication, accounting, audit and collections.

Monks told the Idaho Press in an interview that while he had been discussing what it would take to implement the program, he looked at vacant positions in the department and thought there was adequate space to fill those positions to implement the program. 

"I was comfortable with the number of open (positions) that they have, and what we thought we needed to implement the program was sufficient, and we didn't need to add more to it," Monks said. 

He said he learned later that the money to fund those open positions had potentially been used to bolster filled positions. 

Monks said that after his continued conversations, he feels the seven positions and funding included in the proposed budget will be sufficient to administer the program. 

No records were returned of communications between tax commission employees and commissioners and Horman or Den Hartog.