Montanans know best about taxes

In the 2007 legislative session, Montanans helped craft legislation which is very helpful to homeowners. I ask for that help again.

The Montana Constitution requires the state to "appraise, assess and equalize the valuation of all property." The next re-appraisal is happening right now.

By law, about every six years the Montana Revenue Department establishes and equalizes property values for homes, farms, timberlands and businesses.

Property tax appraisals are a reflection of the growth in our community. The level of growth in our community, or lack thereof, will reflect the property taxes and hence primary funding for local government and schools before mill levies.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer said recently he would propose a bill in 2009 to ensure no statewide property-tax increase occurs because of the ongoing re-appraisal.

According to the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors, Montana is the second most desirable place to live in the nation, and more than 70 percent of the buyers come from outside the state.

Who can blame newcomers as they move here — it's a great community with clean water, open public lands, a good, friendly business climate and the best schools anywhere.

We are growing like mad, particularly here in the northwest corner of our beautiful state. But this growth is also occurring in areas like Missoula, Bozeman, Helena and Billings. In new growth areas, we struggle to retain emergency services personnel and keep schools open.

Before Gov. Schweitzer took office, Montana was ranked 13th in the nation for lowest property taxes and the same for overall best business tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation. Currently we are ranked eighth in the nation for lowest property taxes and sixth overall for business-tax friendliness.

We have come a long way, but there is more work ahead. In the last session, together we enacted historic tax refunds for Montana homeowners and more due in tax credits in the pending year. We eliminated the water tax and lowered the business unemployment tax.

Most folks agree that there is little doubt that growth drives property taxes. When the property next to yours converts to higher uses, it surely affects property taxes.

This was the simple reason for which I sponsored House Bill 488. It's a funded-study approach to find solutions on how best to mitigate the next property tax re-appraisal. It's a complex issue, and I ask for your help.

I currently sit on the Revenue and Transportation interim committee charged with finding solutions and presenting them to the next legislature. There are a lot of good things occurring, but often the best ideas come from the real folks back home in our community.

If you have some insight on what other states have done, or how best to mitigate the pending property-tax re-appraisal for growth or non-growth areas, please let me know. You have been very kind and creative in the past in coming up with good solutions, some of which have now been enacted into law. These solutions are now protecting Montanans.

I fully trust that collectively we are up to the task to make sure that not only will our schools be funded properly, but more importantly, that old-timers, regular Montanans, downtown businesses and fixed-income folks are not taxed out of their homes. Montanans deserve no less.

I'll do my part to work with the governor and any willing legislator to keep our state the kind of place we all want to live. Montana needs your help and ideas. Please feel free to e-mail me with any ideas regarding property taxes.

Rep. Mike Jopek represents the Whitefish area. E-mails can be sent to him at mike@mikejopek.com.