Where Your Money Goes
The city council adopted the FY2027 budget on August 17. Here is what it means for your tax bill and what happens next.
The council adopted the FY2027 budget 5-1 on August 17: $149.9 million, which is $649,350 above the version published in June. The city also took the full property tax increase state law allows, and its last $15,141 of saved tax authority is now spent permanently.
At the new rate, the city tax on a typical $400,000 home is about $965 for the year with the Idaho homeowner exemption. Without the exemption it is about $1,404. The levy rate fell from $3.57 to $3.51 per $1,000 because property values grew. Fixed utility charges rise $6.41 a month on October 1.
Compute your own numberThree bids came in at the August 25 bid opening, all under the engineer's estimate of $783,184. The council considers the bid results September 21. Email the council before that vote.
What you can doThe Chart Residents Repeat
The stage costs more than the street surface projects in the capital roadway program.
Sources: stage line, FY2027 adopted budget, Capital Projects Fund. Street surface work, calculated: account 350-150-770-83 as amended ($1,948,345) less path and crossing projects ($1,209,800). The stage equals 41 percent of the full roadway line.
Where $149.9 Million Actually Goes
Most of the budget is not spending. $74.1 million is savings carried forward, most of it reserved for future construction projects.
See the detailBy the City's own measure, actual spending without fund balances and internal transfers is about $61 million.
See the detailThe General Fund, which pays for police, fire, and city administration, is $21.3 million.
See the detailGo Deeper
The research tools behind these numbers. Twenty years of city data, sourced to the original documents.
20-year finance dashboard: revenue, spending, property taxes, fees, funds, debt, development, plans, peers, and money flow, FY2008 to FY2027.
Calculator for your own tax and utility bill · Simulator for five-year tax scenarios · Explainers in plain language · Money explained · State revenue.
Campaign money: Idaho political money network · Prop 1 tracker.
The City's own budget files, released under public records request 26-262: 23 files, posted here.
The Quiet Change
After publishing the budget in June, the City raised the roadway line $592,400 with three grant-funded path projects and replaced the posted budget book without announcing the change. The City has been asked in writing to identify the grant.
The full story