Republican state senator suspends property tax cap ballot initiative

A state senator has suspended his property tax cap ballot initiative just two weeks before signatures come due, alluding to pushback from key stakeholders.

Martinsdale Republican Sen. Wylie Galt, former speaker of the House and member of a prominent landowning family, announced in a Monday press release that the effort was being halted following “feedback from businesses, public officials, and other individuals.”

A spokesperson for Galt’s initiative did not immediately respond when asked to share details of the feedback or who specifically made the comments that spurred the longtime state lawmaker to make this decision. 

If approved by voters, the ballot initiative would have amended the state Constitution to limit local governments’ property tax increases to no more than 2% per year — unless there were improvements to the property — for all classes including residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial and others. 

It also would have protected voter-approved mill or bond levies by allowing those to exceed the cap. Likewise, it was intended to leave public school funding alone by excluding their levies from the cap. Property taxes are critical to local public school funding. 

The backers of constitutional initiatives must submit more than 60,000 signatures by June 19 to qualify for the November ballot. Galt’s spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked how many signatures the group had gathered as of Monday. 

Galt said in the press release that, by ending the initiative, he hopes to allow for “a more holistic solution to be considered in the upcoming Legislative session.”  

“I’m more than willing to work with anyone who’s committed to achieving meaningful property tax relief,” Galt continued. “If substantial relief for Montanans doesn’t get done in the upcoming session, we may be back.”

Galt’s current term in the Legislature runs until 2029, and his district stretches across central Montana from Three Forks to Big Timber and stops just south of Geraldine. 

Since property taxes spiked in 2023, pushing many homeowners into a financial bind, politicians of all stripes have called for reforming how property taxes are assessed and levied. The issue topped Gov. Greg Gianforte’s and the Legislature’s list of priorities entering the 2025 legislative session. 

On the last day of the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers passed sweeping property tax reform after debating it for most of the four month session. That legislation lowered 80% of Montana residents’ property tax bills in 2025, according to the state revenue department. But detractors of that legislation have pointed to the fact that some residents also saw massive increases, including owners of high value properties worth millions.

Galt was the sponsor of the bill that implemented most of those new laws, although many of the specific policy changes in the bill originated from Gianforte’s property tax task force and other legislators. 

Legislators will convene in Helena for the 2027 legislative session in January, where they are likely to again debate the best ways to keep property taxes manageable for home and business owners.