Gov. Gianforte launches property tax task force, announces members
Gov. Greg Gianforte’s Property Tax Task Force launched Thursday, made up of state agency leaders, legislators, local officials, association representatives, economists, researchers and other stakeholders.
Gianforte selected Ryan Osmundson, director of the Office of Budget and Program Planning, to lead the task force.
“Montanans are rightly concerned with property taxes, which are growing well above the rate of inflation and are increasingly unaffordable for so many homeowners,” Osmundson said in a statement. “We’ll put our nose to the grindstone and leave no stone unturned to identify meaningful reforms to our property tax system.”
Three members of the task force are from northwest Montana. They include Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist, Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, chair of Senate Taxation Committee, member of Joint Education Committee, and Rep. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish, member of House Taxation Committee.
The governor’s office said the task force can recommend any strategy to reform the property tax system, but the Gianforte administration expressly asked the task force to provide recommendations following these guidelines:
- Arrest the rate of growth of property taxes, including assessments and fees, as well as alleviate the impact of drastic increases of property reappraisals;
- Increase transparency of property tax bills, make them easier to understand for property taxpayers, and improve customer service in the payment schedules for property taxpayers;
- Increase transparency of and public engagement in public budgeting;
- Increase public participation for mill levy ballot measures;
- Ensure property taxes paid by Montana resident homeowners and on Montana long-term rentals reflect well on supporting homeownership and workforce housing;
- Ensure each Montana child has access to a quality education; and
- Ensure lower-income Montana homeowners, Montana homeowners who are on a fixed income, and disabled Montana veterans or their surviving spouse are not at risk of losing their home because of property taxes.
Gianforte’s office has lauded the two $675 in property tax rebates for Montana homeowners over 2023 and 2024, as well as the allowance for payments to be made in installments as opposed to twice a year.
Detractors have noted the rebate is only temporary, didn’t include renters and doesn’t address structural problems.
It was clear one year ago that residential property owners would be facing significant increases if the state didn’t take action, and the Department of Revenue proposed a fix.
In November 2022, the DOR told the Montana Legislature the amount it would need to lower tax rates for residential properties to keep taxes neutral in light of significant increases in reappraisals, some 46% on average. But the legislature, led by a Republican supermajority, did not do so.
In recent months, the Governor’s Office has clashed with county commissions across Montana, including ones of his own party, on the property tax debate. But he said the task force will help.
Members of the task force include:
- Ryan Osmundson, task force chairperson and director of the Office of Budget and Program Planning
- Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, chair of Senate Taxation Committee, member of Joint Education Committee
- Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, member of Senate Finance & Claims Committee, member of Appropriations and Finance & Claims Committee
- Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, member of Senate Finance & Claims Committee, Joint Education Committee
- Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, chair of Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, member of Joint Education Committee
- Rep. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish, member of House Taxation Committee
- Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, chair of House Appropriations Committee, chair of Joint Appropriations and Finance & Claims Committee
- Brendan Beatty, director of the Montana Department of Revenue
- Manish Bhatt, senior policy analyst with the Center for State Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation
- Kendall Cotton, president and CEO of the Frontier Institute
- Errol Galt, commissioner of Meagher County
- Pam Holmquist, commissioner of Flathead County
- Jeremy Horpedahl, Ph.D., associate professor of economics and director of Arkansas Center for Research in Economics at the University of Central Arkansas
- Dwaine Iverson, board member of the Montana Taxpayers Association and CPA
- Cyndi Johnson, president of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation
- Sean Logan, commissioner of City of Helena
- Lance Melton, executive director of the Montana School Boards Association
- Gordon Oelkers, commissioner of Roosevelt County
- Todd O’Hair, president and CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce
- Justin Ross, Ph.D., professor of economics and public finance, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University; co-editor-in-chief of Public Budgeting & Finance
- Derek “DJ” Smith, president of the Montana Association of Realtors
- Sandra Vasecka, council member of the City of Missoula
- Ronda Wiggers, Montana State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business
“I’m grateful to each member of the property tax task force for volunteering to dig deep and deliver solutions to reform our property tax system. They’ll each bring a unique perspective to the table, and I look forward to what they’ll accomplish together,” Gianforte said in a statement.