The state of Montana sued Missoula County this week over county commissioners’ property tax plans. The parties disagree over how much Montana counties must collect.
The dispute focuses on property taxes that counties collect on behalf of the state to equalize funding among Montana’s public schools.
Montana Free Press first reported that a group of counties, including Missoula, said they plan to lower the state’s education tax this year in spite of the state’s order to collect the full tax. County commissioners argued the state must adhere to a law that caps property tax increases.
Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration said the state’s education tax has been exempt from that cap for decades. But, Missoula County’s commissioners said this year’s sky-high property value assessments mean they’ve reached the cap on what they can levy.
Missoula County commissioner Josh Slotnick said most counties in Montana are planning a similar approach to Missoula. However, the state has so far only targeted Missoula County in court.
“In fact, we haven’t even passed our resolution yet,” Slotnick told MTPR in a phone interview. “We’re going to vote on this on Thursday. We got pre-sued. We haven’t even done it yet.”
The state argued in its filing that it won’t be able to fully fund public schools if counties don’t collect the full tax this year. Slotnick refutes that, arguing schools have already set their budgets. He said the state is actually asking for counties to collect more in property taxes than in years past.
A spokesperson for Gov. Gianforte in an email said the state is “seeking clarification from the court” about the state’s laws governing statewide property taxes for schools.
A separate lawsuit filed last month argues the state has been illegally exempting itself from its laws that cap property tax collection. That suit is ongoing.
