Prediction: Montana Legislature Will Deliver Property Tax Relief

A headline caught my eye and then sent me on a rant- "Tax cuts could save Montanans millions, but leave cities scrambling."

Ah yes...the state will figure out how to cut our property taxes...but the cities: "HOW WILL WE EVER FIGURE IT OUT???!!!"

As The Billings Gazette reports in that story, a proposal backed by the Governor "would lower property taxes for Montana primary homeowners by 15% and small businesses by 18%."

I think it would be safe to make a prediction that yes- the Montana Legislature and the Governor will deliver property tax relief this session. (Just like how they delivered income tax cuts, income tax rebates, and property tax rebates last session) But what about the cities and other localities who are actually responsible for the bulk of our property taxes? Will they help to lower property taxes too?

That's part of what I talked about with Montana's Speaker of the House Brandon Ler (R-Savage) on Wednesday morning. He says that is the biggest part of the equation when it comes to property taxes. "The biggest component in my mind to property taxes is local government spending... and we are going to get something done on property taxes. In fact, today we'll have a house bill, 231, on the floor. That's the homestead exemption."

Speaker Ler says the House is also looking to get the state of Montana's income tax lowered once again too. "So we're going to get tax reduction delivered to the state of Montana."