2005 Idaho Code - 31-901 — CANCELATION OR ADJUSTMENT OF TAXES

                                  TITLE  31
                           COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW
                                  CHAPTER 9
                          RECLAMATION, DRAINAGE AND
                      DROUGHT RELIEF -- COOPERATION WITH
                               FEDERAL AGENCIES
    31-901.  CANCELATION OR ADJUSTMENT OF TAXES. Whenever, in matters relating
to reclamation, drainage and drought relief, the board of county commissioners
shall deem it necessary or desirable to cooperate with any department or
agency of the government of the United States authorized to make loans to
irrigation or drainage districts, or loans on real property or farm crops, or
with any agency or corporation created or organized under any act of congress
and authorized to make such loans, including the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation, the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, the Federal Housing
Administration and the Farm Credit Administration, and any agency or
corporation operating under the supervision of said Farm Credit Administration
or Federal Housing Administration, in order to make available to the people of
any district or community within the county the benefits that may accrue from
the loaning of money to or in such district or community by any such agency or
agencies, and if, in the judgment of the board, the public interest and common
welfare require that any ad valorem tax be canceled or otherwise adjusted in
order to effect such cooperation and make available the benefits herein
referred to, and if it be found that the cancelation or adjustment of such
taxes will not be detrimental to the interest of the county or the tax-levying
bodies affected thereby, the board of county commissioners, if the tax be a
lien upon real property in such county, shall have power and authority to
cancel or otherwise adjust such tax upon the conditions and in the manner and
for the purpose herein set forth, if it finds and determines that one (1) or
more of the following conditions exist:
    (a)  The lands upon which the tax is a lien are situated in an irrigation
project having a water right so inadequate, uncertain and undependable that
the landowners have found it necessary to reorganize and readjust the project
by eliminating a substantial acreage therefrom and transferring the water
rights appurtenant to the lands eliminated to the remaining lands in order to
assure the production of normal crops on the lands retained in the project,
and that it is believed that the lands retained in the project, upon the
consummation of the readjustment, will be able to pay the taxes thereafter
levied against such lands, and that the cancelation or adjustment of the taxes
theretofore levied is deemed necessary to accomplish a readjustment of the
project and make available to the farmers and landowners thereon the benefits
that may be had from any such lending agency or agencies; or
    (b)  The lands on which such taxes are a lien are located within an
irrigation or drainage district or are served by an incorporated water company
which is refinancing its outstanding indebtedness, the payment of which is a
charge against such lands, on a substantially reduced basis, and that the
cancelation or adjustment of such tax is necessary in order to enable such
district or company to obtain such reduction and refinancing of its
indebtedness, and that by such action the lands will be enhanced in value and
become better able to pay the taxes thereafter levied and assessed against
such lands and will thereby by [be] qualified to receive the benefits that may
be had from any such lending agency or agencies; or
    (c)  The irrigation or drainage works serving such lands, or dikes
protecting the same against overflow, have been damaged or destroyed by flood
or other unforeseen casualty, or are in such condition that it is impossible
to finance the necessary repair or reconstruction of such works through or
with the aid of any such lending agency or agencies, without an adjustment of
the unpaid taxes on the lands affected thereby.