In his weekly Cheers & Jeers column, Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune gives Jeers ... to state Sens. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, and Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood. It's bad enough that the state Senate repeated the House's decision to begin raising property taxes on ordinary homeowners. But anyone representing northern Idaho has no excuse for voting the way Vick and Nuxoll did Tuesday. Now on its way to Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's desk is a bill that would dilute the Homeowners Exemption. That measure exempts half the assessed value of a home worth up to $189,400 from taxation. It's indexed to inflation to maintain its full benefit. Next year, the cap is expected to reach $200,000 - which is where lawmakers would freeze it. Each year, as the value of more residences rise above that $200,000 threshold, homeowners will pay $10 million in new property taxes while everyone else - landlords, businesses, farmers and industry - will pay $10 million less. It's a pure tax shift. More here.

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