Letters to the editor June 9

Property tax solutions

Now that the primary dust has settled it is time to define the No. 1 legislative issue for the upcoming Montana Legislature. Our state legislature is controlled by the Republican Party. It holds the governorship and majorities in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. There is no reason we should not expect them to reform our inequitable property tax system.

A balanced tax system is a three-legged stool, equal parts of sales, income and property taxes, that broadens the tax base and makes everyone contribute equally. Ours is not balanced. We have no general sales tax, so we depend heavily on income and property taxes to fund our state and local governments, and since many corporate property taxpayers have either shut down or left the state, our property tax system depends yet more heavily on residential property taxpayers

There are a couple of easy solutions to remedy this inequity. Enact a general sales tax accompanied with appropriate property tax relief. Or, here’s the big one, amend our property tax system to make it more fair. The Montana Legislature could move to an acquisition value-based system. Under that system we would pay property taxes based on the original value we paid for our properties. That value would be adjusted annually with a cost-of-living calculation, but basically we would pay resdential properties on our original cost. California has used this system successfully for years.

Readers would do well to ask the candidates who survived the primary how they would address this property tax  inequality in the upcoming general election season. Make them answer, but more importantly, make them start thinking about solutions for the 2027 Montana to consider.

— Don Larson, Finley Point

Fossil fuel payouts

The world as we know it today was built on the back of burning fossil fuels. Unfortunately, this has come at a tremendous cost. Emissions from burning fossil fuels are rapidly warming our world at a rate that has never occurred in the history of our planet.   Why do we continue to burn fossil fuels?

One primary reason is the tremendous control the fossil fuel industry has over our government. The industry spends approximately $250 million per year lobbying elected officials. The vast majority going to Republican officials and candidates. During the 2024 presidential campaign, oil interests gave over $75 million to Donald Trump-affiliated PACs.

This lobbying serves as a highly effective financial instrument, yielding unparalleled returns on investments by securing multi-billion-dollar taxpayer subsidies, rolling back environmental regulations and stalling clean energy competition. Furthermore, the federal government spends $20 billion to $35 billion annually on direct handouts, including special tax breaks and cheap drilling access on public lands.

We cannot expect meaningful climate action as long as our representatives are financially beholden to the industry driving this crisis. Voters must demand transparency and reject candidates who prioritize fossil fuel payouts over our planet’s future.

— Ron Sadler, Kalispell