Bill Description: House Bill 610 would treat a religious mission as equivalent to active military service in relation to maintaining a property tax homestead exemption while living away from the homestead.
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Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws that discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. Conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?
Idaho law offers a property tax exemption known as the homestead exemption, which exempts the first $125,000 or 50% of assessed value (whichever is lesser) from property taxes. Among other requirements, the homestead must be “owner-occupied and used as the primary dwelling place of the owner.”
The only current exception to this requirement is for a homestead that previously qualified for the exemption and whose claimant is absent in the current year by reason of active military service.
House Bill 610 would amend Section 63-602G, Idaho Code, to add “or religious mission,” giving the same exception for someone who claimed the homestead exemption the prior year, but is now absent.
It would define “religious mission” as “service performed for a religious organization, where the owner, beneficiary, partner, member, or shareholder is required to relocate from the homestead for the duration of the mission but intends to return to the homestead upon the completion of the mission.”
Religious service can be a noble calling, and the law should not seek to discourage it, but there are many honorable reasons why a homeowner might be absent for an extended period. Temporary relocation for employment, education, or taking care of a sick relative are just some examples.
It is appropriate for the law to recognize that maintaining a homestead exemption should not require the owner to reside there if he or she is away for good cause and intends to return, but creating a special exception for just one such reason while leaving others without a similar remedy is an unequal application of the law.
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