Business tax relief on governor's 2023 agenda

New excavators and tractors served at the backdrop Wednesday as Gov. Greg Gianforte laid out his plan to push for tax relief targeting Montana businesses.

The Republican governor was in the Flathead Valley to tout his legislative agenda for the 2023 session, holding a press conference at RDO Equipment Inc., in South Kalispell. The company sells and services agriculture and construction equipment — some of the exact machinery Gianforte believes is taxed too heavily in the state.

Last year, Gianforte signed a new law that increased the business equipment tax exemption from $100,000 to $300,000, meaning businesses with equipment valued at $300,000 or less don’t pay the 1.5% tax. It was estimated by the Montana Department of Revenue that the measure would impact some 4,000 businesses in the state.

On Wednesday, Gianforte said he would like to see the exemption threshold raised again, but didn’t specify by how much.

He called the personal property tax a “disincentive” for local companies to expand or buy new equipment, echoing many commerce groups that have argued for years that the tax holds back investment in the state and puts Montana at a competitive disadvantage.

The tax is on business equipment, furniture and fixtures, ag equipment, heavy machinery, mining and manufacturing machinery, oil and gas equipment and other industrial machines.

“It’s not just ag and construction folks that pay this annual tax,” Gianforte said Wednesday. “It’s our high tech leaders monetizing the economy. It’s our local brewery making made in Montana beer.”

Revenue from the equipment tax goes into state accounts, as well as to local governments and school districts. House Bill 303, which raised the exemption threshold during the 2021 session, included provisions that reimbursed local governments and schools due to the lost revenue.

The governor’s office did not provide specifics about his proposal or about how the lost revenue would be accounted for. Gianforte spokesperson Brooke Stroyke said his office was still crunching numbers.

Among the attendees flanking Gianforte at Wednesday’s press conference were local legislators Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, Rep. John Fuller, R-Whitefish, and Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls.

Adam Gilbertson, Vice President of RDO Equipment in Montana, spoke in support of Gianforte’s plan, saying the initiative would be helpful for continued economic growth.

“It is hard for business owners — the growers and builders of the economy here in Montana — to take the risk and really invest in their businesses in the environment we’re in with inflation and the escalating costs we’re seeing,” Gilbertson said.