by Les Waldron, Hamilton
My property tax bill arrived in the mail yesterday. Talk about eye-popping. My property taxes have, in effect, increased by 45-percent over last year. A 45-percent property tax increase in ONE YEAR! Somebody somewhere must think that’s fair.
I suppose it means Ravalli County’s services will be 45-percent better this year. Deputies will respond to 911 calls 45-percent faster. Teachers are getting a 45-percent raise! And students enjoying all this lavish funding will be 45-percent smarter this year. I sure hope they might be 45-percent less prone to continual hooliganism.
It’s nice to know my home is 45-percent better than it was this time last year. And I didn’t even have to lift a finger! It doesn’t really matter that I can’t figure out if the house is that much bigger, or maybe that much higher in build-quality. Heck, maybe my home’s location is now 45-percent more desirable. It’s certainly NOT valued at 45-percent more than last year.
I guess I’ll need to start generating 45-percent more work for the County, just to get my money’s worth. I know I’ll be 45-percent less likely to re-elect current incumbents to County-level office.
Can I be the only one who thinks Montana needs its own variant of California’s Prop-13?