63-603. ELECTRIC, OR GAS, PUBLIC UTILITIES PUMPING WATER FOR IRRIGATION OR DRAINAGE — REDUCTION OF ASSESSMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH EXEMPTION — CREDIT ON CUSTOMERS’ BILLS OR PAYMENT TO CONSUMERS. (1) The state tax commission shall, at the time of assessment of the property of any electrical, or gas, public utility, cooperative organized under the rural electrification administration act of the United States congress, or other company distributing electrical power ("utility"), determine the amount of the exemption under section 63-602O, Idaho Code, and shall reduce such assessment so that any such utility shall not be required to pay any property taxes upon that portion of its property so exempted.

The amount of such exemption or reduction by the state tax commission shall be as nearly as practicable, such as would yield the amount of property taxes included in the rates of such utility under the tariff schedule(s) applicable to the furnishing of such electricity or gas.

(2) The full amount of property taxes which would have been due from such utility if such exemption had not been made, shall be credited or paid annually, for the year in which the exemption is made, on the electric or gas bill, to the consumer by the utility furnishing such electricity or gas for irrigation purposes.

(3) If the consumer is not a customer of the deliverer of electrical power or natural gas energy, the full amount of property taxes which would have been due from such utility if such exemption had not been made, shall be paid annually, for the year in which the exemption is made, directly to the consumer by the utility delivering such electricity or gas for irrigation purposes. To qualify for credit or direct payment the person or organization at the point of delivery must also be the person or organization pumping water for irrigation purposes and not a distributor or redistributor of electrical power or natural gas energy.

(4) For the purposes of determining the benefit to which each consumer is entitled by virtue of this exemption, the following procedure is provided.

To receive the benefit of the exemption under section 63-602O, Idaho Code, and this section, each consumer who is not a customer of the deliverer of electrical power or gas energy must file an application with the state tax commission on or before April 30 each year except that for the year 1993, only such application may be filed on or before June 15. The state tax commission shall prescribe by rule the form and information necessary for such application.

On or before the fifteenth day of November each year, the tax collector of each county shall transmit to the state tax commission, duplicate tax statements of each utility, showing the property taxes payable by such utility in his county. The state tax commission shall as soon as practicable thereafter, certify to each utility, the aggregate saving in property taxes effected in the several counties to each utility by reason of this exemption. On or before the fifteenth day of December of each year, each utility shall file with the state tax commission of Idaho, a statement showing the revenues which were or are to be collected from each irrigation or drainage pumping consumer, and the ratio between the aggregate savings in property taxes certified to it by the state tax commission and the aggregate revenues which were or are to be collected from these consumers. The utility shall determine the credit to which each consumer is entitled by virtue of this exemption and shall certify to the state tax commission that it has refunded or credited against the consumer’s bills, the amounts due each consumer. This refund or credit shall equal each consumer’s bill for the year multiplied by the ratio calculated pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph. The public utilities commission shall have jurisdiction under the public utilities law to insure utility compliance with the provisions of this statute.

History:

[63-603 added 1996, ch. 98, sec. 7, p. 359.]