This truly has been the toughest tax season in my experience as county treasurer. The effects of inflation on our everyday items, gas to get to work, rents and more have just continued to rise. Now, so have taxes. Our assessments of our homes, homes that some of us have lived in for more than 20 years, have skyrocketed during the last reappraisal cycle.
Higher assessments lead most government agencies to lower the mills so as not to collect more money than needed for their annual budgets. In fact, county governments are limited by an inflation factor in creating annual budgets. Our County Commissioners have tried very hard to get our budget down to manageable levels and still give our agencies enough money to pay our team members and do business. I can’t tell you how hard this is. They even went so far as to lower budget requests where they could.
Like all counties, the state is required to do a calculation, based on property assessments, of the mills needed for school equalization — a mechanism that is meant to ensure that all students have access to a quality education. The calculation it arrived at this year was 77.89 mills. This conclusion supported our belief that counties should lower the state mills from 95 to 77.90.
Most of Montana’s counties agreed, which began a fight — a fight that ultimately was presented to the state Supreme Court. On Nov. 22, the court ruled in favor of the state, based mostly on the fact that its policy has never been objected to in 20 years. We and the other counties that fought this have been ordered to levy the full 95 mills, despite the calculation done by the Department of Revenue.
This ruling means that the state general fund will have a “extra” benefit of over $88 million. This is more than the school equalization funds that already have been allocated by House Bill 2, which determines the state’s budget.
How can everyday Montanans stay in their homes when mills are calculated but not respected by this administration? It is time to make a difference by asking your state government how we can do better at managing reappraisals and the high costs of supporting our local and state governments.
Our governor wants to put the blame for higher taxes on counties and municipalities. But really, the blame is everywhere; the current system just isn’t working. And I blame the state for not honoring its own calculations.
What does this mean for us as taxpayers? Because this ruling came down after tax bills were sent, counties will have to create new bills for the second half of the fiscal year, due in May of 2024. The details of how this will happen are in the works and will be settled in early 2024. There is more to come on this, and I will do my best to keep you informed.
To me this is tragic, but I will do my best to support rulings that I don’t agree with but are required of me under the law. And my office is happy to guide you to property tax assistance programs.
Meanwhile, there are state representatives who need to hear from you on how to improve our system. Especially for those of us who live on fixed incomes and are over 65. Please send me your thoughts via email or mail, and I will be happy to forward those on to them. Or better yet, contact them directly!
Thanks for always being kind.
