Maybe we should start a Republican police blotter for Republican leadership. First up is Republican Senate President Jason Ellsworth (R-Hamilton). On May 2, Ellsworth’s girlfriend, Lindsey Murolo, was granted a temporary order of protection by a court in Helena. There will be a formal hearing on July 17. She alleges that Ellsworth abused and threatened her over the course of their six-year relationship. The Montana Free Press Reports:
“In her handwritten attestation, Murolo said that during that incident, Ellsworth went outside to grab his Glock pistol and ‘came in and loaded it, was waving it around then laid his 300 pound self on top of me trying to force me to shoot him. I was crying begging him to leave and my daughter was right above us upstairs in her room. She heard him yelling and was scared.’”
Senate President Jason Ellsworth accused of domestic abuse in request for protective order
This was not Ellsworth’s first encounter with police. In August of 2021, Ellsworth pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in Broadwater County following an incident when he was stopped for driving 88 MPH in a construction zone. After being stopped, Ellsworth allegedly tried to say he was exempt from the law, because he was hurrying to a legislative meeting the next day. The legislature was not in session at the time. Ellsworth then threatened the officer that he was going to call Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen to intervene.
In pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, Ellsworth was fined $350 and given a one year deferred sentence. If you are thinking that’s a pretty light sentence, we feel obligated to point out the Broadwater County Attorney at the time, Cory Swanson, is a long time Republican activist and served as Republican Candidate for Governor Rick Hill’s attorney in the 2012 campaign.
In other police news, Gov. Greg Gianforte appointee and Montana Labor Commissioner Laurie Esau resigned her position on July 9th after being arrested in Missoula on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence. She was also charged with obstruction of justice. Esau was stopped after being involved in a hit and run accident. The Montana Free Press reports the arresting officer charged that Esau was uncooperative and exhibited a “blank, dull state, belligerent attitude, heavily slurred speech and significant odor of alcoholic beverage.” Esau was uncooperative, the officer also wrote, failing to follow directions, grasping a fence, and attempting to walk through a gate into her yard, causing the officer to place her in handcuffs.
Can’t make this stuff up.
And let’s not forget this:
WTF406.com has written numerous posts about Republican Senator Jeremy Trebas’ commercial property on 1st Avenue North. A quick recap:
–Trebas bought property at 1300 1st Avenue North in May 0f 2022. The property was classified as a church when he bought it. Trebas’ continued to enjoy the property tax classification as a church even though he did not qualify for the exemption. His annual property tax bill was just under $550 per year.
–The building was also in violation of fire codes, because it did not have an adequate fire suppression system. Rather than complete the needed work, Trebas introduced a bill in the Montana Senate that would have exempted his property. The bill was vehemently opposed by Fire Marshals across the state and died in the legislative process.
–After the legislative session (and his failed attempt to change the law to favor his pocket book) Trebas put the building on the market for $475,000.
Despite the fact that WTF406 notified the Department of Revenue of concerns about the misclassification of Trebas’ building, it appeared that no adjustments were made by May. WTF406 wrote a formal letter to the Department of Revenue and local officials on June 1st asking that the property be reclassified and that Trebas’ property tax obligation be adjusted accordingly. In a follow-up phone call, the Department of Revenue informed WTF406 that the building had been reclassified, and that Trebas’ property tax obligation for the coming tax year would be $6,343.32. That’s quite a jump from the $535 he had been paying.
A quick review of current real estate listings in Great Falls on July 10 reveals that the building is still for sale. Right after the legislative session, Trebas was seeking $475,000. Real Estate Dot Com on July 10 lists the property for sale for $281,227. Of course we don’t have access to the details of his finances, but it seems Trebas is trying to unload an albatross around his neck. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!
What The Funk sent the following letter to the Department of Revenue on June 1, 2023.
June 1, 2023
Montana Dept of Revenue
Great Falls Office
300 Central Ave # 520
Great Falls, MT 59401
Re: Misclassification of Senator Jeremy Trebas’ Property
Greetings,
I am writing regarding the misclassification of property owned by Republican Senator Jeremy Trebas (through Rear View Mirror LLC) at 1300 1st Avenue North in Great Falls. We notified you months ago that the property does not appear to qualify for a religious exemption from property taxes and provided the following article which gives the relevant information and details.
https://wtf406.com/2023/01/the-curious-case-of-jeremy-trebas-property-taxes/
As of May 28, 2023 we note that the property is still listed as exempt property on the Montana Cadastral Map, approximately a full year after Trebas purchased the property. He is currently paying $535.58 per year on a commercial property valued at $359,505. Far below what he should be paying.
We are surprised that the Department of Revenue has not adjusted his property tax classification. This is unfair to other taxpayers in the community and is depriving tax jurisdictions of revenue. Trebas also introduced a bill in the Senate attempting to exempt this property from needed repairs to bring it up to safety codes. Though the bill failed, it is quite apparent he is not above trying to play the system to his own advantage. https://wtf406.com/2023/01/jeremy-trebas-the-self-dealing-senator/
We request that you adjust his classification immediately and make sure he pays the difference for the year he has owned the property. If, for some reason, either the cadastral map or Webtax site are in error or you believe the property is properly classified as an exempt property, please let us know.
Sincerely,
WTF 406
CC: Property Tax Division Administrator, MT Department of Revenue,
Cascade County Commission, Mayor of Great Falls
Media
Below are links to our previous posts on this topic.
The Continuing Saga of Senator Trebas’ Dirty Real Estate Deal
Speaking of Property Taxes. . .
Montana is getting hit with a massive increase in property taxes. The finger pointing is already beginning. Republicans are quick to say it’s not their fault. Legislator Greg Hertz (R-Polson), chair of the Senate Tax Committee, has an editorial floating around the state pointing the finger at local governments and, ironically, the voters themselves. Hertz says that taxes are increasing because local mill levies have been approved to support things like schools, libraries, police, and fire protection. Shame on us citizens for supporting basic public services, which the legislature under Republican control since 2009 have consistently refused to fund.
What the Republicans don’t say is that everyone knew this was coming. Not because local levies are passing all over the state (they aren’t), but because property values have been increasing dramatically. Your property tax bill is determined by your property value multiplied by your property tax rate and multiplied again by local jurisdiction mills. Most communities have not increased mills and the property tax rate has not changed. However, in most communities, the value of property has gone up significantly. That is the driver behind these increases. But Hertz and Republicans are quick to blame the voters.
Another thing the Republicans are not mentioning is that state government has been choking local governments for years, refusing to allow them to raise funds to cover services. Nowhere is the consequence of this more apparent than Great Falls and the proposed safety levy. No matter what you think of the levy, most people agree that many basic services in Great Falls are underfunded. The chickens are coming home to roost, and the city is asking people to approve a huge property tax increase. Given this controversy, the odds of that mill levy passing have declined dramatically.
The Republicans are also failing to mention the fact that they started this legislative session with a $2.5 BILLION budget surplus thanks to the Biden administration’s COVID relief efforts. Montana Republicans claimed credit for the surplus and swept a big chunk off the table for income tax rebates, up to $2,500 for joint filers. They also gave a maximum of $500 property tax rebate. Clearly the Republican program favors the wealthy.
One time “tax rebates” are usually more about politics than tax policy. Both Governors Brian Schwietzer and Steve Bullock had rebate programs, though not as big as the Republicans this time around. But rebates don’t change the fact that Montana’s tax structure is out of whack and far too dependent on residential property tax while being generous to the wealthy and big businesses.
The best way to make our tax system better is to increase income taxes on the wealthy and big corporations. Despite the fact that Montana is a relatively poor state, ranked number 34 in median household income, we are ranked in the top five for our “business friendly” tax environment by the conservative Tax Foundation. Hmmm.
The current controversy over property taxes carries with it two very concerning items. First, Republicans have always promoted a general sales tax in Montana which only pushes more tax further down the income scale, forcing people with less money to assume more of the cost of government. Second, people’s frustration with the property tax system can lead them to support “caps” like Proposition 13 in California which has decimated public services. Such a measure failed to gather enough signatures here in Montana in 2022, but a similar measure has already been submitted to the Attorney General for the 2024 election.
Department of Revenue will be holding meetings across the state to discuss the property tax increases Find the schedule here: https://mtrevenue.gov/pad-town-halls/#local
The library mil election is over and the library won. That’s a good thing. Now Merchant’s supporters and some in the media are saying that it shows she is getting better at running elections. Don’t buy it.
Truth is the supporters of the library went to court because of their concerns about errors Merchant made in the month before the election. Some of the errors in the May school election included:
-Absentee ballots not being sent to certain voters in the school election.
-Failing to verify signatures before separating secrecy envelopes and ballots
-Turning voters away because voting registers were not available
-Ballots were folded improperly and didn’t fit in return envelopes
-Voters receiving absentee ballots which were not sealed
The library levy supporters went to court arguing that a similar pattern was emerging in the library levy election and asked the court to appoint a monitor to assure the library election was run correctly. The district court judge agreed and appointed Lynn Deroche, a former election department supervisor, to monitor Merchant and her employees and make regular reports to the court. Merchant and Cascade County resisted the appointment and had outside counsel to represent them in the proceeding, Then the county’s lawyer objected to correspondence from the library’s lawyers requiring another hearing before the judge. The court denied the objection.
When election day came, we did not see the same screw ups that characterized the school election and the special district elections which are now heading into litigation. Truth is the library election would not have gone as smoothly as it did had the monitor not been in the clerk and recorder’s office every day to make sure the rules and the law were followed. Not exactly what we consider a smooth election.
By Ken Toole:
NorthWestern Energy customers are about to get shocked with a huge increase in their electric rates if the Public Service Commission grants NorthWestern Energy’s request to increase residential rates. The public hearings are over and final legal briefs are being submitted. But, like a cancer waiting to metastasize, it has not gone away, and it will wreak havoc on the very people who can least afford it.
Don’t be fooled by efforts to minimize the impact of this rate case. Residential customers are facing a 28% increase in their rates compared to a year ago. And thanks to a “negotiated settlement” reached by the big guys (the utility, the state, and large customers) large users won’t see any increase at all. Bottom line this increase falls unfairly on small customers like you and me.
The average residential customer will have to come up with an additional $284 annually or more. Some people may be able to afford it. Some folks can go out and find another job to make ends meet but lots of people can’t do that…particularly Montana seniors. They will be choosing between paying their power bill, buying food, paying rent or purchasing medicine.
While we are waiting to hear how much residential rates will increase, large investors are buying up NorthWestern stock. On May 15 Market Beat reported that six “institutional investors” are increasing their holdings of NorthWestern stock. They are watching this rate case and they like what they see — for stockholders.
The corporate largesse doesn’t end with investors’ stock purchases. In 2022 NorthWestern CEO, Bob Rowe, received over $3.3 million in total compensation. Rowe, now retired, has been replaced by the former Chief Operations Officer, Brian Bird. In 2022 Bird made over $2.6 million. For comparison, Mark Johnson, the manager of the state’s largest electric co-op, makes a little over $450 thousand per year.
Why are these men smiling?