Honor Montanans with tax rebate

My Republican father would say it's a sad day for his party when Democrats come up with a better property tax rebate plan. My Democratic mom would laugh and say she knew she was right all along in raising an independent minded child.

In catering to the super-rich oil and power companies and non-Montanans, the GOP has their plan. It targets relief to those who have the means to pay their fair share, but entices campaign dollars into party coffers.

I just don't understand tailoring property tax breaks to non-Montanans or oil corporations at the expense of local services. It's silly and counter productive.

We welcome a lot of second homeowners into our community. These are a friendly and generous bunch of folks who can and often want to help our community grow. But as for property tax policy, we need to look out for Montanans first. Growth accelerates the property tax burden onto old-timers.

Whitefish has become an international real estate market. We have succeeded in pushing the average price of a house toward half a million dollars, all the while being stubborn about raising the minimum wage past a paltry $5 per hour. Now we look toward importing labor and building dorms because local families can't make it.

The GOP plan proposes a property tax break of $76 if you own a $100,000 home. But to one Whitefish landowner, they propose a $10,000 tax break. To a power company they propose a $1 million break. A train company would get two-thirds of a million dollars, and a couple of oil corporations would receive a quarter million.

This plan simply does not pan out for regular Whitefish folks. We can do better.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has come up with a tax rebate plan that's simple. If you are a Montanan and own a home, you get a rebate of $400. Using $100 million of state surplus for housing relief is a great step in the right direction. For longevity, I will continue to work with anyone who is interested in making the tax system a bit fairer for Montanans.

We should not be in the business of crafting property tax relief policy for non-Montanans and corporations who continue to gouge us at the gas pumps. The relief, though, should be available once we are Montanans.

Folks have been calling suggesting that we include renters into the rebate mix if they file Montana income taxes. I tend to agree and will work toward that end. After all, rent in Whitefish is well beyond the means of ordinary wage earners, and it constitutes a huge percentage of the housing opportunity.

Montana homeowners' property taxes are too high. I'll continue to advocate policies which make our lives a bit better and the system fairer. We'll keep moving in the right direction as we honor the obligations to our kids, students, retirees and community.

Politicians can gracefully use oil and gas tax surpluses to give Montanans a break. Whether your party is that of my mom or dad, we should all agree that Montana should take care of Montanans first.

Rep. Mike Jopek is a farmer and represents the Whitefish area in the Montana Legislature. He currently serves on the Local Government Interim Committee, which meets in Helena this month.