The 95 mills question

The top issue in Montana is property taxes. Attempts to reform were stymied by “government first” legislators and lobbyists. The 95 mills question never came up. 

Today’s debate concerns the proper calculation of our state property tax, aka “95 mills.” Reporting on the issue is shallow. Partisans prefer obscuring legal facts with emotional arguments. Make no mistake. This is not state departments versus the counties. It is Gov. Greg Gianforte suing property owners.

The question: May the state government levy 95 mills on all property using “banked mills”? In 2020, the Interim Revenue Committee was informed that the collection of 95 mills, using banked mills from prior years, was probably outside the law. However, “the courts often give difference in statutory interpretation to departments so the outcome of litigation is not guaranteed.”