Montana Property Taxes
Stop the Shift! Who benefits from the property tax increase, plus how to speak your mind
New Tool: See where your property increase is going to go this year (Spoiler alert! It's NOT all going to your local government!). Check out taxshiftmt.com to get the details!
Would you like to speak your mind about the property tax situation? Go to tribute.co/mttaxshift/ and submit your story about how the property tax shift increase is affecting you, your loved ones, and your community. More details there!
Big Sky 55+ Tax Fairness Rally, October 2, 2023
Featuring:
Former Governor Brian Schweitzer
Former Great Falls County Commissioner Jane Weber
Big Sky 55+ Board Chair Terry Minow
Panel on Property Taxes (City Club Missoula)
Featuring:
Dan Bucks, Former head of the MT Dept. of Revenue
Josh Slotnick, Missoula County Commissioner
Sen. Greg Hertz (R Polson), chairperson of the Senate Taxation Committee
Op-Eds
Ken Toole: "Big corporations get tax benefits, while Montana resident get higher property taxes" Daily Montanan, July 26, 2023.
"By refusing to adjust the residential tax rate, the Governor and legislators protected corporate property payers like NorthWestern Energy and Burlington Northern while letting residential property taxes increase dramatically. Imagine that!" Read more here.
Dick Barrett: "Shifting the Property Tax Burden" Missoula Current, July 25, 2003
"It’s important to understand in this situation that even though residential property taxes are going up (and in some cases going up a lot!), it’s not because local governments and schools are collecting a windfall increase in tax revenue. Indeed, state law bars local governments and schools from taking advantage of such windfalls; as a result, most of the additional taxes paid by homeowners will be offset by reduced taxes paid by everyone else...
"...by allowing the shift in taxes towards homeowners to go forward, Republicans have also protected property tax cuts for business interests at the expense of Montana families, and especially families with limited means." Read more here.
Laura Smith: "Republican supermajority responsible for property tax hikes" Billings Gazette, August 2, 2023
"There are an awful lot of options for who and what to blame for the steep property tax appraisals that many of us received in the mail the last few weeks. But I’ll tell you about the best kept secret in Montana this summer…the Republican supermajority could have prevented this." Read more here.
Articles
"Former Montana revenue director says property tax system ‘rigged,’ ‘broken’", by Keila Szpaller, The Daily Montanan, August 14, 2023
"Homeowners and renters in Montana are about to experience the largest property tax increase in history — and it’s by design, said Dan Bucks, former head of the Montana Department of Revenue.
They’ll pay nearly $200 million more altogether, Bucks said.
On the other hand, he said, large entities such as telecommunications companies received a tax break last year approximately half that amount, or $107 million." Read more here.