Commissioners Don’t Expect Tax Increases
Partly because of the passing of Senate Bill 117, there have been concerns about raising taxes for some eastern Montana residents.
Roosevelt County Commissioner Gordon Oelkers, however, stresses that the bill will not result in higher taxes for Roosevelt County residents.
Oelkers said that because of the bill, the county will have about 2 percent less in tax revenue during the next six years. “We can live with that,” Oelkers said. He added that oil revenue allows the county more flexibility than many counties.
“Our mills haven’t changed in the past 10 years,” Oelkers said.
Senate Bill 117 allows counties to receive property taxes for full inflation at the average rate of inflation for the prior three years not to exceed 4 percent. But it caps newly taxable property values at 75 percent for class four property. The other 25 percent goes to the state.
“Some counties gain, some counties lose. It depends if you’re growing or not,” Oelkers said. The big seven counties which features the state’s largest cities will gain the most.
For the state, pretty much all property taxes have decreased. Agriculture property taxes have gone down or increased slightly.
There have been concerns expressed in Richland County where residents say their property taxes have increased by 12 to 30 percent.
Montana Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage, explained in a letter to the editor to the Roundup newspaper, “County commissioners have claimed these tax hikes were caused by legislation passed in Helena. After looking into it, I found that nothing the Legislature did forced their hand. The truth is that Richland County leaders raised local property taxes by 42 percent and maxed out their mill levies before new restrictions from Senate Bill 119 take effect next year. When questioned, one commissioner said they did it to protect the county.”
Previously, Richland County commissioners banked some mills in order to reduce taxes. When they decided to reinstate the mills prior to the new senate bill going into effect, taxes went up, especially for agriculture property owners.
