Our View: Not easy money. Just no-brainer money. | Editorial | Idaho Statesman
Idaho’s citizen budget-writers have been meeting this week for a crash course in the painfully obvious.
A staggering shortfall awaits the 2011 Legislature. Lawmakers may have to find $340 million of new money just to keep pace with growth, and replace the one-time dollars withdrawn from state rainy-day funds. The Legislature is out of budget tricks — not that this is news to the 20 members of its Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
JFAC will have to say no to a lot of funding requests — including, undoubtedly, some that would make sense almost any other year. The budget-writers can’t afford to say no to everything, though. And they should certainly scrape together the dollars to retain the state tax collectors that have been netting Idaho a tidy little 35-to-1 rate of return.
From July through September, the State Tax Commission paid out $157,092 in salaries for temporary tax collectors. These new hires have brought in more than $5.5 million — taxes already owed to the state, which might have otherwise gone uncollected.
We’re not sure the state hands out honors for temporary employees of the month, but this crew would get our vote. Even if these collectors had merely hit their target, bringing in $1.266 million, this would have yielded an 8-to-1 rate of return.
The fact that these tax collectors blew past their target further illustrates the depth of Idaho’s “tax gap.” In a November 2009 study, the State Tax Commission pegged Idaho’s underpaid, under-reported or overdue taxes at $255 million, and said $64.5 million could be readily collected by stepping up auditing and compliance efforts.
Armed with this research — and with a tangible success story — the State Tax Commission plans to go to the 2011 legislative session seeking $5 million. The first $2.7 million would be used to reclassify this summer’s hires as permanent staffers, while $2.3 million would be used to add another group of temporary employees. Given the recent return on investment, this proposal is a no-brainer.
It is ironic that the beleaguered State Tax Commission is emerging as a bright light in this budget crisis. This same agency is facing whistleblower complaints and a lawsuit over the confidential and costly deals it has cut with companies that have contested their tax bills.
By attacking the “tax gap,” the commission has the chance to do things the right way. To collect legally owed and desperately needed tax dollars for public schools, universities and Medicaid. To ensure the system is fair to those who willingly pay their share of taxes. All the commission needs is a little bit of money upfront.
“Our View” is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman’s editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail editorial@idahostatesman.com.
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