Reeves Goes Negative.  Mayor’s Race Heating up.

by Ken Toole | Sep 25, 2025 | City, Elections, Mayor, Property Taxes, Public Library

Great Falls Mayor Cory Reeves is mad. . .really mad. In a recent Facebook post Reeves went after Jasmine Taylor for getting into the “mud” in the mayor’s campaign. Too bad the post was long on indignant rhetoric and short on facts. Here’s a copy of Reeves’ post: 

“When I ran for mayor in 2023, I faced three well qualified opponents. The campaigns were very professional, and they focused on ideas to move Great Falls forward.This reelection year is different. My one opponent has chosen to throw mud, distort facts, and attack instead of offering real solutions. She has openly said she wants to defund public safety, she doesn’t support the American flag, and she believes we should strip away the rights of anyone who appeals their tax assessments. I won’t join her in the mud and I won’t waste time trading shots on social media. Leadership is about knowing the facts, respecting the law, and putting Great Falls first. I will continue supporting affordable housing developments, public safety, and enhancing our city’s infrastructure, the things that truly make our community strong and livable. Ballots arrive in about three weeks; let your voice be heard and let’s stay “different” from Missoula and Bozeman.  @topfans”

Wow! What has his opponent done or said to set off his tirade? Hard to tell. The specifics he does provide are inaccurate and misleading.  

It’s ironic that Reeves couches his attack by saying that he will not sling mud in this campaign. It’s a political trick as old as elections and campaigning, throwing mud while saying you are staying on the high road.

Perhaps demonstrating the difference between these two candidates, Taylor responded to Reeves’ post with the following:

“I have offered nothing but legitimate criticism of your public policy and voting record. Conversely, you have refused to debate me. Please offer me a concrete example of me ‘slinging mud’. You’ve shown a keen inability to handle criticism, and I fear this is the most recent example.”

Reeves has not responded to her request for specific information.  

Where Do Reeves and Taylor Stand on the Issues . . .

On Calumet’s Repeated Property Tax Appeals

Reeves’ campaign so far has been remarkably devoid of serious discussion of issues.  But every now and then he gives us a glimpse of his positions.  For example, in the Facebook post above he says of Taylor, “she believes we should strip away the rights of anyone who appeals their tax assessments.” This is an obvious reference to Calumet Refinery’s repeated property tax appeals which have shifted costs to Great Falls’ residential taxpayers and strangled local governments and schools trying to make and meet their budgets. Calumet routinely receives significant reductions in their property tax from the State of Montana. Taylor has never said Calumet doesn’t have a right to appeal their valuations. She has been a critic of the “revolving door” settlement process used by the Department Of Revenue to settle these appeals. Reeves apparently thinks that’s all okay. Taylor does not.

On A General Sales Tax

Then there is the issue of a general sale tax. In his recent interview with the Montana Free Press, Reeves said this about potential solutions to the city’s lack of revenue, “Me personally, I would like to see us eliminate a tax in the state of Montana. So, eliminate an income tax or something and implement a sales tax.”  https://montanafreepress.org/2025/09/15/incumbent-mayor-talks-priorities-in-election-interview/

We all know that big corporate interests in the state are gearing up to promote a general sales tax in Montana. They are using the Republicans’ failure to address skyrocketing property taxes and underfunded local governments and schools to build support for a general sales tax. Reeves’ idea to eliminate income taxes and replace them with a sales tax would put money directly in the pockets of rich people and big corporations. The lost revenue would be replaced from the pockets of moderate and lower-income people at the grocery store. Taylor opposes a general sales tax.  https://montanafreepress.org/2025/08/18/time-for-an-adult-conversation-about-a-montana-wide-sales-tax/

On Public Safety

Reeves also has little to offer on what the City of Great Falls can do about public safety.  Despite the fact that he portrays himself as a big supporter of increasing funding for public safety, he has almost nothing to offer to address the issue. He has this to say about asking the voters to fund needed improvements, “But I also know if we were to put that before the community right now, they’d say, ‘Get bent. We’re not doing it.’ So I don’t know. The police and fire departments, even legal, the courts, are making do.” Apparently he is still pouting about the failure of the public safety levy two years ago.

Taylor has suggested going back to the voters for support for public safety. Instead of one huge levy which covers police, fire and first responders, she has proposed going to the voters with three smaller requests, possibly spread over some period of time so voters are not hit all at once.  https://montanafreepress.org/2025/09/22/mayoral-challenger-pitches-her-vision/

On Respecting the Will of The Voters

Speaking of the voters, Reeves continues to say it was his job to take money which had been approved for the library by the voters and reallocate it to public safety.  He said, “And I feel I did something very courageous. We were looking to come after all seven mills, and a group of supporters of the library came forward and let their voices be heard, so I knew we had to revisit this.”  Unfortunately the truth is that the library mill levy vote created deep divisions in the community as social conservatives attacked the library. Following one of the most contentious mill levy campaigns in Great Falls history, the social conservative crowd lost. Then the mayor and the majority of the council stepped in and took voter approved funds from the library. The amount they took from the library was a drop in the bucket compared to the needs of public safety and everyone knows it. Reeves now uses public safety as a screen to justify his pandering to his political base. Taylor was one of the organizers of the pro-library campaign. 

Good Old Boys Are Alive And Well

Early in the campaign Taylor challenged Reeves to a public debate on the issues important to the citizens of Great Falls. He declined, saying there would be ample opportunity in forums for that discussion to occur. So far, there has only been one such forum sponsored in Great Falls.  It was organized by the local Realtors Association. But they somehow sent the invitation to an old email address for Taylor. She did not attend, because she didn’t know about it. Taylor did have a subsequent meeting with the association’s CEO, and he issued an apology on social media for the snafu with the email invitation. However, the local realtors did not offer her any opportunity to address their board or membership and then went ahead and endorsed Reeves. Apparently the good old boy system is alive and well in Great Falls. It may or may not be enough to carry Reeves over the top. Stay tuned.