We walked the dogs down to the fishing access. It was February, warm and raining. We’re still waiting for the last big freeze before seeding too much for later farm production. Who knows when the end of winter arrives. Not today.
A friend sent a photo earlier from the Bahamas where palms were covered in sleety snow, less dramatic than Florida’s citrus trees which were sheets of ice. It was weirdly warmer in the Treasure State, a place that’s about as far north you get in the continental U.S., than in was in the Sunshine State.
I smelled the horses up ahead, the manure fresh from the persistent rain. It smelled like spring. This was no traditional winter. Don’t recall if it’s wetter than ones of past. Could be, after all these decades living on the same land.
The horses broke out the other day and wandered the neighborhood. But tonight, they were in the shed or under tree, not in sight, and not in the wet. We kept walking. A car sped by, going too fast for the back roads. New cars driven by newcomers just drive too fast for locals.
This neighborhood is one of the older subdivisions, an area where homeowners are unlikely to get all their money back from the state as the government comes to town and reappraises local homes and small businesses every couple year.
I shook my head. It didn’t have to be that way. Locals did not need to feel taxed off their land. The next Legislature could fix it. But. But no one left in Helena seems to think there’s a problem with overtaxing locals who own homes worth more than $378,000, the arbitrary baseline established by lawmakers. Gov. Greg Gianforte’s third state reappraisal is just around the corner and headed to every neighborhood across the state. Expect to pay more yet.
What a mess they created for homeowners. And for no apparent reason except the state wanted the hundreds of millions in extra revenue to help balance the budget and provide those lavish top end income tax cuts.
Suddenly, state Republicans are fuming mad at each other, they’re writing letters to the paper every week lambasting the other side of their fractured party. The Republican chairman of Senate Tax Committee even sued the state for a bill that he helped pass, then not pass, then pass, then not pass. Yes, they were confused. Even Gianforte’s chief tax lawmaker admits to making consequential mistakes that hurt locals
Evan Barrett of Butte and I followed the progress of these property tax bills during last winter’s Legislative Session. We urged lawmakers to keep it simple at every hearing. And we testified a lot, simply that homeowners enjoy the full 0.76 tax rate which neutered the very real tax increases from both the 2023 and 2025 reappraisals of property.
Instead, lawmakers tiered rates up from that neutral base so most Flathead locals will always get overcharged by the state’s revaluation of homes and businesses. Other locals saw their state taxes sometimes double, while many, albeit not living in the Flathead, don’t pay extra due to reappraisal.
Republicans chose winners and losers on property tax reappraisal legislation so the state can collect extra. The locals that live here might have bought homes early, maybe they bought late or have yet to be able to purchase given how pandemic migration enticed cash buyers to gobble up every piece of land that big money could afford.
The upcoming 2027 state reappraisal of all homes and small businesses in Montana is just around the corner. The state calculated tax rate that would have neutralized the last two reappraisals, must again be reduced further to keep locals from not paying so much extra just because they own home where big money moved in.
Every November prior to a Montana Legislative Session, the state revenue department is required by law to calculate a new tax rate that assures homeowners and small businesses don’t pay extra after the state revalues their property every two years. Lawmakers just ignored this historic advice for the past four years.
Lawmakers keep saying they seek to charge more for homes that remain dark at night, vacant for most of the week to give locals a break. The reality is that lawmakers are charging all Flathead homes extra by not allowing homes to enjoy the current 0.76 tax rate on the entirety of the home value. A practice that every other governor in Montana allowed for locals prior. And it worked.
Some new political candidates might seek to find answers in Helena and offers a ray of hope to locals seeking simple solutions that allow us the luxury of being able to afford to age in place and repulse the greedy arm of Helena’s tax man. It’s time to send leaders to Helena that prioritize locals over state budgets. Locals don’t need a complex tier, rather a neutral baseline, plus transparency.
We reached the end of the road. The parking lot was muddy, wet from days of rain and sleet. Off in the distance, I heard big birds cackling. We paused, took a deep breath, and sighed. The dogs looked at us.
We turned back. They knew the routine and eagerly headed home. We walked faster back to the farm, past the home that always smells like dryer sheets. Local neighbors had now turned on their lights as twilight arrived. A single ray of sunshine illumined a faraway mountaintop.