by Bob Williams, Stevensville
Since the last statewide assessment, Montana residential property value has increased an average of 43%. Last time assessed residential property values surged, the Legislature lowered the tax rate. So tax payments would stay about the same.
But this year the Legislature left the residential property tax rate at 1.35%, with State mills of .101.
Check with your Legislators and ask them about the purposes of requiring greatly increased property tax payments from many homeowners.
Do you and your Legislators see good reasons for large increases in State property tax payments required of many homeowners?
You may see how the State residential property tax increased payments will become a heavy burden, that will certainly disrupt people's lives and liberty. Causing some raised rents to become unaffordable. Causing certain hardship to people with low incomes, and fixed incomes.
To avoid certain disruption, you may see merit in lowering the Montana state residential property tax from 1.35% to .94%. That way MT residential property tax payments would remain about the same as in the last biennium.
You may see very good reasons for once again keeping State residential property tax payments about flat. You may believe that if the state of Montana needs more revenue, it should come from residents with very, very high incomes and/or lots of wealth.
Indeed, you may not be happy that the Governor and this 2023 supermajority Legislature, for the 2023-4 biennium, in HB 192, made $480 million dollars of income tax rebates available to full time MT residents in 2020, and 2021.
Implementing that, will deprive the state of Montana of nearly half a billion dollars.
Then, to make matters worse, the Governor and Legislature, in HB 292, deprived the State of an MT Revenue department estimated $150,000,000 per year. By lowering the top income tax rate from 6.5% to 5.9%.
Similarly, in HB 221, they deprived our State of an estimated $16,000,000 per year, by reducing the State Capital Gains tax rate.
We do not want to pay increased residential property tax payments to pay for reduced income and capital gains taxes that mostly benefit the upper class.
We want taxes that are fair and equitable. Undertaxing the very wealthy while permanently extracting greatly increased tax payments from MT homeowners is not fair or equitable.
We see the trap. Let us apply for a $675 primary residence property tax for this year(apply August 15-September 30). And again next year. But after that, no more residential property tax rebates.
What we want, and what some extremely well off people want is very different. What many of them want is a MT sales tax. After all, sales tax rates can be raised without causing much comparative hurt to the very wealthy classes.
Consider asking your Legislators to push for a one day special Session and keeping State residential property tax payments about flat.