Another week passed and after all the outrage of the mushrooming property tax assessments, nothing has happened. Our do-nothing Governor and Legislature have embarked into another frivolous multi-state lawsuit to gain access to personal medical records. What ever happened to probable cause? I guess there was nothing else going on in Montana?
So as these leaders embark in another journey down a money hole with our tax dollars, where do we stand on our property taxes?
If all our elected officials can offer us is a fourth-grade mathematical problem, then the State is in serious trouble. What good does a $675 rebate do if your taxes increase 46% (Jefferson County’s median increase was 51%)? The Legislature gave more away to big business interest than to the hard-working and tax-paying folks that supported the economy and business interests. Silver Bow County will lose over $695,000 due to tax reductions for one business. How will that loss of revenue be distributed among property tax owners? The only option is to shift these burdens on the little guy, the local property owner. And, if it can happen there, it can happen in our county.
Even though the Legislature had a “heads up” notice of the impending explosion of escalating appraisals, they did absolutely nothing to protect the senior or retired Montanan who helped build this state. Now these Montanans have no other resource to deal with this set of circumstances.
I thought the politicians worked for us? It’s apparent they would rather lap up the out-of-state contributions to keep their job. We need property tax relief and a special session needs to be declared to remedy this crisis.
So, if we can’t get local help, call the Governor’s office at (406) 444-3111 to ask what is being done to resolve the property tax mess. If you do not get a live person, leave a message and keep calling back until they do something. If they don’t, we can vote them out!
