Some Island Lake rental cabin owners failed to pay taxes

ISLAND PARK, Idaho – Alerted by competing businesses, the Fremont County tax assessor has found 86 rental cabin owners who have not been paying personal property tax that the county levies against landlords.

“We had them on the tax rolls, but we had no idea they were renting them out,” Assessor Ivel Burrell told the Post Register.

Burrell found the rental cabins with an Internet search, which turned up a cabin being rented to tourists by Laurie Augustin.

Augustin said she began renting out her late mother’s home, Grandma’s Cabin, to Island Park tourists seven years ago so she could hold onto the home for her son, who she hopes will move back to the area with his family.

She said she makes just enough money renting the cabin to pay the property taxes, and didn’t know about the county tax until she received a letter a few weeks ago from the assessor’s office.

To determine the tax, she submitted a form that asked for the purchase dates and value of items in the cabin, though Augustin had inherited most of the items.

“I gave the best information I had,” she said, but she’s concerned about how much she might owe. “I’m very nervous.”

Pat McCoy, Fremont County treasurer, said the tax is based on the value of the contents in a rental cabin. She said that a rental cabin with contents valued at $5,000 would result in a tax of about $50.

Philip Chavez manages Last Chance Lodge, and said it is only fair that anyone who rents to tourists in the area pay the tax.