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Montana Property Taxes

To access slideshows from the Fair Taxes Now! panel of the Gathering Wisdom Conference, click here. 

Stop the Shift! Who benefits from the property tax increase, plus how to speak your mind

New Tool: See where your property increase is going to go this year (Spoiler alert! It's NOT all going to your local government!). Check out taxshiftmt.com to get the details!

Would you like to speak your mind about the property tax situation? Go to tribute.co/mttaxshift/ and submit your story about how the property tax shift increase is affecting you, your loved ones, and your community. More details there!

Articles

"Gianforte names members to property tax task force" by Eric Dietrich, Montana Free Press, January 11, 2024

The full membership is as follows:

  • Ryan Osmundson, task force chair and Office of Budget and Program Planning director

  • Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, Senate Taxation Committee chair

  • Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, Senate Finance & Claims Committee member

  • Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, Senate Finance & Claims Committee member

  • Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, House Appropriations Committee member

  • Rep. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish, House Taxation Committee member

  • Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, House Appropriations Committee chair

  • Brendan Beatty, Montana Department of Revenue director

  • Manish Bhatt, senior policy analyst with the Center for State Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation

  • Kendall Cotton, president and CEO of the Frontier Institute

  • Errol Galt, Meagher County commissioner

  • Pam Holmquist, Flathead County commissioner

  • Jeremy Horpedahl, Ph.D., associate professor of economics and director of Arkansas Center for Research in Economics at the University of Central Arkansas

  • Dwaine Iverson, board member of the Montana Taxpayers Association and CPA

  • Cyndi Johnson, president of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation 

  • Sean Logan, Helena city commissioner

  • Lance Melton, executive director of the Montana School Boards Association

  • Gordon Oelkers, Roosevelt County commissioner

  • Todd O’Hair, president and CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce

  • Justin Ross, Ph.D., professor of economics and public finance, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University

  • Derek “DJ” Smith, president of the Montana Association of Realtors

  • Sandra Vasecka, Missoula City Council member

  • Ronda Wiggers, Montana State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business

Read the full article here.​

"Montana homeowners see higher property taxes as some big businesses pay less" by Eric Dietrich, Montana Free Press, December 7, 2023.

"The median Montana residential property owner will pay about 21% more on their taxes this year than they did last year, with typical increases ranging between 11% and 35%, ...The median industrial property tax bill increased 6%. However, some industrial properties, including those owned by some of the state’s most prominent large companies, saw their bills decline by as much as 20%. As a result, total collections on industrial property are down by about $52.9 million." Read more here.

Big Sky 55+ Tax Fairness Rally, October 2, 2023

Featuring:

Former Governor Brian Schweitzer

Former Great Falls County Commissioner Jane Weber

Big Sky 55+ Board Chair Terry Minow

Panel on Property Taxes (City Club Missoula)

Featuring:

Dan Bucks, Former head of the MT Dept. of Revenue

Josh Slotnick, Missoula County Commissioner

Sen. Greg Hertz (R Polson), chairperson of the Senate Taxation Committee

Op-Eds

Ken Toole: "Big corporations get tax benefits, while Montana resident get higher property taxes" Daily Montanan, July 26, 2023. 

"By refusing to adjust the residential tax rate, the Governor and legislators protected corporate property payers like NorthWestern Energy and Burlington Northern while letting residential property taxes increase dramatically. Imagine that!" Read more here.

Dick Barrett: "Shifting the Property Tax Burden" Missoula Current, July 25, 2003

"It’s important to understand in this situation that even though residential property taxes are going up (and in some cases going up a lot!), it’s not because local governments and schools are collecting a windfall increase in tax revenue. Indeed, state law bars local governments and schools from taking advantage of such windfalls; as a result, most of the additional taxes paid by homeowners will be offset by reduced taxes paid by everyone else...

"...by allowing the shift in taxes towards homeowners to go forward, Republicans have also protected property tax cuts for business interests at the expense of Montana families, and especially families with limited means." Read more here.

Laura Smith: "Republican supermajority responsible for property tax hikes" Billings Gazette, August 2, 2023

"There are an awful lot of options for who and what to blame for the steep property tax appraisals that many of us received in the mail the last few weeks. But I’ll tell you about the best kept secret in Montana this summer…the Republican supermajority could have prevented this." Read more here.

Articles

"Former Montana revenue director says property tax system ‘rigged,’ ‘broken’", by Keila Szpaller, The Daily Montanan, August 14, 2023

"Homeowners and renters in Montana are about to experience the largest property tax increase in history — and it’s by design, said Dan Bucks, former head of the Montana Department of Revenue.

They’ll pay nearly $200 million more altogether, Bucks said.

On the other hand, he said, large entities such as telecommunications companies received a tax break last year approximately half that amount, or $107 million." Read more here.

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