Commercial property owners protest taxes

Local merchants and property owners are joining together to fight back against this year’s commercial property taxes, which for some have near doubled.

Downtown property owner Carolyn Testa is one of them. Testa’s tax bill has jumped from $9,000 to $16,000 this year.

Some or her downtown properties include the Bonnerport Mall and the buildings that house The Gift Gallery and The Groove Studio.

“For all of its complexity, it is quite simple,” said Boundary County Assessor Dave Ryals. “The land and buildings increased in value. We don’t create the market, we just report it.”

“They were notified in June about the possible raise,” he continued. “They had a chance to question and appeal it, and only one did.”

Property taxes for the Gift Gallery alone increased 168 percent. Testa said she can’t pass that increase on to her tenant.

The Gift Gallery will close its doors if the rent is raised, Testa told Bonners Ferry City Council during Tuesday’s meeting.

With many local artists unable to pay to keep their art in Testa’s Groove Studio, she looks at possibly having to close.

“It’s not that we don’t want to pay our taxes, we just can’t,” said Selkirk Mountain Real Estate owner Donna Capurso, who owns the building rented to Tucked Away on Main Street.

The group of local business owners also spoke to county commissioners about their predicament.

Property owners propose that the county should have used the income tax approach, which would look at what the building would rent for instead of the market value approach, which uses last year’s sales of local commercial properties.

With taxes due on Dec. 20, many business owners are faced with a hard decision; either pass the costs onto struggling tenants or find a way to pay it themselves.