A taxpayer's open letter to the Lincoln County Treasurer

Letter to the Editor,

This is an open letter to Ms. Nancy Trotter Higgins, Lincoln County Treasurer.

Nancy Trotter Higgins or designated staff,

I respectfully submit this request to be reimbursed for the property tax payments that were assessed and collected in the past three fiscal years, contrary to legally authorized mill levies.

This property owner takes no issue with the legally sanctioned, voter approved mill levy rates as applicable under MCA 15-10-420 (2): A governmental entity may apply the levy calculated pursuant to subsection (1) (a) plus any additional levies authorized by the voters, as provided in 15-10-425, to all property in the governmental unit, including newly taxable property.

The property owner named below, however, takes issue with the unauthorized property tax assessment and collection, recently affirmed by an independent audit, solicited and approved by Lincoln County elected commissioners of the local governmental body. Montana Code Annotated (2013) is the appropriate legal code that gives authority to the mill levy voter sanctioning process. In particular is MCA 15-10-425, (5) which controls the legal authority of a local governmental unit as it applies a voter approved mill levy rate:

A governing body, as defined in 7-6-4002, may reduce an approved levy in any fiscal year without losing the authority to impose in a subsequent fiscal year up to the maximum amount or number of mills approved in the election. However, nothing in this subsection authorizes a governing body to impose more than the approved levy in any fiscal year or to extend the duration of the approved levy.

A county, as in the case of Lincoln County falls within the plain language definition of MCA 7-6-602. The subsequent utilization of increased mill levy rates, approved by the aforesaid county commissioners of Lincoln County runs afoul of the plain language intent of the statutory authority vested in the county by the State of Montana. It is therefore appropriate that the property owner named below begs relief from this violation of statutory authority.

After consultation with staff of both the Lincoln County Treasurer’s Office and the Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, the amount assessed and collected in error was determined. The property owner named below demands payment of $298.66, an illegal taking of money in violation of the intent and authority cited above.

Be it known that timely reimbursement not forthcoming will initiate any and all appropriate remedy allowed for redress.

— Dale E. Swapinski