Time to separate politics from property tax reform
Bipartisan politics, Republican budget
vs. the governor’s budget and veto power are making headlines
daily. About the only issues both parties appear to agree on is to
ignore property tax reform again and it is politically astute for
the state to continue a policy to shift the burden of state 101
mills property taxes from Eastern Montana to the West.
The people we have elected to enforce
our constitution and protect all of our residents, have ignored the
adverse affects of a mismanaged 2008 reappraisal, refused to
recognize that House Bill 658 does not provide equal protection or
treatment for all, and blocked every proposed bill that could have
given the people an equitable, predictable and financially stable
property tax system.
This “do nothing” policy when it is
obvious that out property tax system has failed, is evidence that
our leaders do not really care that the taxes from Montanans who
have owned property for generations are forcing them to sell their
homes, and, since little property is being sold, to have to borrow
money for taxes. Further, few people believe they could sell their
property at the overstated appraised value and all are aware that
real property values are decreasing every month, so we are paying
more tax than we should anyway.
Adding insult to injury is the fact
that our mills are being increased because of the 2008 reappraisal
errors as well as to compensate for EPTAP reductions in taxable
value, adjustments in value due to protests, and to replace lost
revenue to schools.
Matters only get worse when one
realizes that this agony is completely unnecessary; he is paying
increased taxes not to help pay for schools or services but only to
offset the decreases in taxable value of owners whose market value
increase is below the state average.
You should know that by blocking
proposed reform bills, our governor, as well as the legislature,
refused to consider allowing the state wide taxable value to
increase to provide additional university and school revenue of $20
million in 2011-2012 and $40 million in 2013-2014 at no additional
cost to the taxpayers.
How can anyone, knowing the problems we
have funding the university and schools, refuse to change Montana’s
property tax system from tax shifting back to a controlled revenue
source? It makes no sense to reduce services or revenue when a
alternate or unused revenue source is available.
The people of Montana are experiencing
politics at its worse, and politics has no place when it comes to
taxation. Our governor who is our designated “champion” refuses to
get involved in the property tax debacle, and there is not one
legislator with the guts to stand up and say, “Enough is
enough!”
Montana Residents for Fair Property Tax
has been trying to use the “system” for over eight years, stymied
at every turn by the East Side legislators taking revenge for some
past sin where the West benefitted from the prosperity of the East.
The people of Montana need property tax reform now and the only
alternative we have left is to prove that HB 658 is
unconstitutional and the taxpayers and owners of property in growth
areas are being discriminated against for political reasons. We
have retained counsel and plan to file suit after the legislative
session is over. (We know the governor is well aware of our plight
and had hoped he would intervene when he was made aware that
nothing is being done by telling the legislature and Department of
Revenue to fix the problems or go into a special session.)
For more information or to sign-up to
join our effort, please go to our website: http://mtproptax.org/.
You can contact me by email from the site or call 862-9785.
Mahler is with Montana Residents for
Fair Property Tax.