What the Montana Media Is NOT Telling You About Prop Taxes

This is exactly why we talked about the need to fundamentally overhaul the way Montana collects property taxes. This is what I wrote just over two years ago.

From January 2022: "High property taxes have been a major challenge in Montana for decades, but given the post-pandemic influx of refugees fleeing the lockdown states for Big Sky Country- it's an even greater challenge. Property values have been skyrocketing, and since property taxes are based off of the value of the home, Montanans on fixed incomes are bracing for the impact of even higher taxes."

Did the Legislature raise your taxes? No. Did the governor raise your taxes? No. Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT) and the Republican Legislature delivered over a billion dollars in tax relief, including property tax rebates and income tax rebates. The Democrats, almost unanimously, opposed it all.

But now the Democrats pretend to care about rising property taxes, and the media is constructing a fake news narrative to back them up. I scratched together a few quick thoughts earlier this morning.

What the liberal media is NOT telling you about Montana property taxes:

1. They don't want you to question the system: the flaw in basing property taxes off of property values.

2. They don't want you to know the percentage paid by residential customers versus the percentage paid by businesses like Northwestern Energy etc.

3. They don't want you to know that the main reason we have seen a shift of burden from industrial to residential is because of THEIR attacks on industry over the past several decades (they attack ag, oil, gas, coal, timber with their biased enviro activist reporting...that then backs up the liberal judges and politicians attacking these industries...and now they complain that Gianforte is trying to rebuild that industrial base) For reference, look at my chat with MT Rep. Llew Jones (R-Conrad) from last Fall.

4. And this is the fun one- the Democrats themselves wouldn't even lower the state's 95 mills...heck- it was Left wing groups that sued to make sure you couldn't lower the 95 mills in the first place (look back at my chat with Missoula Rep. Karlen last Fall where he said he would NOT vote to lower the 95 mills).

5. The Gov delivered prop tax rebates and income tax rebates and relief. $675 is a BIG DEAL for most Montanans...but not for wealthy, white, liberal elites like Ryan Busse and Raph Graybill.

6. I'm glad the liberal media finally understands that renters are impacted by property taxes...why don't they remind you of that fact every time they cheerlead for one of these local levy votes?