Montana county governments are at odds with the state over who’s responsible for this year's property tax increases.
Beaverhead County Commissioner Mike McGinley contends that a decades-old law limits the amount counties and the state can levy on property owners when taxable values increase. But, he said, state officials haven’t followed that rule in 20 years.
“It doesn’t make sense that they are overtaxing the people on property taxes. And blaming county commissioners for it,” McGinley said.
Montana homeowners saw their residential property values skyrocket in June, some upwards of 60%, when the state Department of Revenue completed reappraisals. That will result in tax increases this fall, although not as high as the increases in home values themselves.
Many Republicans, including Gov. Greg Gianforte, have pointed to local county and city government spending as the culprit for the increases.
But McGinley said that if the state adhered to the limit on tax increases that counties are following, property owners could get relief. Beaverhead County has asked Attorney General Austin Knudsen to determine whether the state is breaking its own law.
The Montana Association of Counties supports Beaverhead County and sent a letter to Gov. Gianforte requesting the same fiscal responsibility he asks of counties.
An analysis from the Montana School Boards Association paints a more complicated picture. It says the state has been exempt because its tax on properties pays for the constitutionally required public education system.
Rep. Llew Jones, a Republican in Conrad and crafter of the state budget, said the education tax spreads the burden of paying for public schools evenly across the state and ensures the money is distributed fairly. He said limiting that tax isn’t the right approach and Montana needs to have a bigger conversation about its tax system.
“At some point this has become a distraction. A distraction from the fact that a long term fix is going to take a lot of math, a lot of time and a lot of thought,” Jones said.
A spokesperson for Gianforte said the push to limit the state’s tax for schools jeopardizes funding for and the quality of public education.
Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office said he’s received the request for a legal analysis and will provide one.
