The Idaho Spending Index serves to provide a fiscally conservative perspective on state budgeting while providing an unbiased measurement of how Idaho lawmakers apply these values to their voting behavior on appropriations bills. Each bill is analyzed within the context of the metrics below. They receive one (+1) point for each metric that is satisfied by freedom-focused policymaking and lose one (-1) point for each instance in which the inverse is true. The sum of these points composes the score for the bill.

Analyst: Niklas Kleinworth

Rating: +1

Bill Description: House Bill 677 appropriates $656,000 and 4.00 full-time positions to the Board of Tax Appeals for fiscal year 2025.

With the exception of some adjustments to the statewide change in employee compensation and replacement items, this budget confirms the maintenance budget funding proposed in pending legislation, House Bill 459.

Is the maintenance budget inappropriate for the needs of the state, the size of the agency, or the inflationary environment of the economy? Conversely, is the maintenance budget appropriate given the needs of the state and economic pressures?

This legislation confirms the maintenance budget for the Board of Tax Appeals of $644,400, only growing from the base by 1.7% over the last three years. This rate is substantially lower than the rate of inflation over the same period, demonstrating modest growth in the cost to maintain the agency.

(+1)