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Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Thursday the membership of a task force charged with formulating recommendations for ways the state could reduce the burden property taxes put on Montana residents.
The group, which will be chaired by state Budget Director Ryan Osmundson, includes a bipartisan roster of state lawmakers as well as state officials, local government leaders, state and national tax policy experts, and members representing groups such as school boards, farmers, small businesses and realtors.
“We must protect Montana homeowners from rising property taxes, and I look forward to the work of the Property Tax Task Force to reform our property tax system and arrest the rate of growth of property taxes,” Gianforte said in a release.
The governor noted that the state has offered short-term property tax rebates in an effort to offset rising tax bills this year. He also called for “thoughtful, deliberate, long-term reforms to keep property taxes as low as possible, because the increasing strain of rising property taxes shouldn’t force Montana homeowners to consider selling the home they’ve owned and lived in for decades.”
An analysis by Montana Free Press found that property taxes rose on median by 21% on residential properties this year, driven partly by historic home value growth that has pulled tax burden onto residences from other types of properties. That analysis also found that tax bills decreased this year for many industrial properties owned by large businesses.
An executive order creating the group, which is modeled on Gianforte’s 2022 affordable housing task force, asks its members to formulate recommendations that could translate into bills during next year’s legislative session. It requires the group to provide the governor with a written report by Aug 15.
Gianforte’s order specifically asks the group to examine the following questions:
Neither the governor’s press release nor the executive order addresses whether the task force will discuss a potential statewide sales tax, a historically unpopular idea supported by some lawmakers and policy experts as a way to reduce homeowner tax burden by shifting some collections to a revenue source that would draw on tourists as well as residents.
Gianforte spokesperson Kaitlin Price didn’t rule out that possibility in response to a question Thursday, though she did say the governor remains opposed to the idea.
“The task force will go where it goes, but the governor has been clear: he does not support a statewide sales tax,” she wrote in an email.
The full membership is as follows:
This story is published by Montana Free Press as part of the Long Streets Project, which explores Montana’s economy with in-depth reporting. This work is supported in part by a grant from the Greater Montana Foundation, which encourages communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. Discuss MTFP’s Long Streets work with Lead Reporter Eric Dietrich at edietrich@montanafreepress.org.
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