10 July 2023 — 1107 mdt

Only a special legislative session can prevent
Montanans from paying sky high state property taxes

By James Conner

We think of property taxes as local taxes because they fund local governments and schools, but we also pay a 101 mil state property tax — and our bill for that tax will go up 40 percent or more because of the recent reappraisals unless Montana’s legislature amends state law.

Here’s the background. In late November 2022, Montana’s Department of Revenue sent the legislature’s revenue interim committee a memorandum warning that the tax value neutral rate needed to be reduced to compensate for the increase in appraisals. The TVN is set in stone in statute and can be changed only by changing the Montana Codes Annotated, which requires legislation.

Here’s a real world example of what will happen if the legislature does not meet to adjust the tax value neutral rate.

Republican legislature Terry Falk represents House District 8, a compact fast growing district in west Kalispell. In a 2 July letter to the Flathead Beacon, he wrote:

He need not wonder a about the state portion of his property taxes. With the appraisal, he has the data to calculate his tax bill and how much extra he'll be paying if the tax value neutral rate is not changed in a special session:

You can use the worksheet in this PDF to estimate how much the new appraisal will cost you if the tax neutral value is not adjusted by the legislature.

So, let’s sum it up. Unless the tax neutral value is changed by the legislature in a special session, the whopping increase in appraised property values will show up in our tax bills for Montana’s state property tax.

Whether this happens depends entirely on Gov. Gianforte and the Republican leaders of the legislature. They can call a special session to modify the law — or they can let the increase go into effect.

Let your legislators and Gov. Gianforte know what you think should be done.