What really happened with property taxes?

In a recent op-ed piece, former Gov. Brian Schweitzer chastised the current administration and the Legislature for not doing more to alleviate the increase in property taxes paid by homeowners that resulted from the huge increase in residential property values.

He lambasted Montana businesses and employers for having a hand in the residential property tax increase. He also asserted that none of the record revenue the state received went to schools or health care. 

The Revenue Interim committee, composed of six Democrats and six Republicans, was notified in November 2022 that residential and commercial property values were increasing. The committee continued the practice that began in 2015 of not lowering tax rates when new values were implemented. When the state went to a two-year appraisal cycle in 2015, one of the reasons for doing so was to get away from the sticker shock of six- year reappraisals and the subsequent tax rate reductions. Tax rate reductions only fix the value increase for a portion of property owners, leaving other homeowners with significant increases and creating other ongoing problems in the property tax system.