by Helena Lovick | May 29, 2025 | Global Warming, Legislature, Taxes, Town Hall Meeting
Great Falls, MT
On Wednesday May 28th, a group of local organizers, Citizens 4 Government Transparency, hosted a Town Hall with the 2025 Cascade County State Legislators. The legislators present were Jane Weber (D-HD-19), Jeremy Trebas (R-SD-10), Wendy McKamey (R-SD-12), Steve Fitzpatrick (R-HD-24), and Eric Tilleman (R-HD-23). Before I start joking around, I’d like to mention that I do give these legislators credit for being willing to hear from the public. It seems so many legislators, in particular Republicans, avoid their constituents and refuse to face any public backlash. So tip of the hat to these legislators for showing up.
Is Global Warming Real?
About 100 people were present in the audience, and a steady stream of questions were presented to the legislators from the crowd. The highlight of the night was when an audience member asked the legislators if they believe in global warming. Jane Weber quickly raised her hand and said, “I do!” Then hilariously the entire Republican contingent asserted that they didn’t. Seriously in 2025. Truly stupid, bury your head in the sand denialism. But we have people out here not willing to vaccinate their dogs against rabies, so the bar is truly in hell with anti-science beliefs.
So check, climate change isn’t real for Republicans. Hope that works out for them since we’re on a warming planet together. At least the crowd scoffed with me!
Let’s Make Income Inequality Worse
A question I raised during the town hall was about HB 337. As reported by the Montana Free Press: “House Bill 337 reduces the state’s top-bracket tax rate down from 5.9% to 5.4% over the next two years. It also raises the maximum threshold for the state’s lower tax bracket, where income is taxed at a lower 4.7% rate, and expands a tax credit available to lower-income working families.” All of the Republicans present voted for it, and the governor signed it into law in April.
I asked, if we have to make cuts to essential services in the future, would the Republican delegation be willing to reverse the income tax cuts they had made? Of course, not a single one of them answered that question, they just talked around it.
Then Representative Steve Fitzpatrick started talking about how making $41,000 a year isn’t rich, so people making that wage should get a tax cut. Cool, cool. Quick question, why are people making $41,000 annually lumped in with people making $250,000+ annually? As you can see in the table below, in Montana, all income from $41,000+ is taxed exactly the same.
Crazy idea, but we could and should focus on distinguishing between people making only $41,000 a year from millionaires so that the tax rates can be cut for the middle and lower class income earners and NOT CUT FOR THE ULTRA RICH. Instead, Gianforte is aiming for a flat tax rate to help the rich get even richer. (A flat income tax applies the same rate to all taxpayers, regardless of their income). How much more can you squeeze out of people below the poverty line, you damn ghouls?!
And on that note, let’s focus on electing representatives that want a fair tax system and legislation to actually help address the inevitable effects of global warming. A girl can dream.
by Ken Toole | May 16, 2025 | Appraisal, Corporations, Taxes
In this post we are focusing on the games large corporations play on property taxes and “appraised values.” We’ve already written about Calumet’s shenanigans in receiving reductions in property taxes with the help and support of local Republican legislator Steve Fitzpatrick and Attorney Kim Beatty, wife of the Director of the Department of Revenue. https://wtf406.com/2025/04/calumets-got-lawyers-and-politicians/
The Goal of All Property Appraisal is to Establish the Market Value Of The Property
The first step in determining how much you will owe in property taxes is determined by the appraised value of your home, land, business, or rental. That value is determined by the Montana Department of Revenue’s appraisal process. The most common way the Department of Revenue determines the value of your home is to identify comparable property in your area that has sold. It is determining the “market value” by looking at sales of similar property.
Three Methods of Appraisal to Determine How Much a Property Is Worth
It is harder to find “comparable sales” for large industrial facilities like Calumet, because they do not sell as often and there are far fewer of them to use as comparisons. There are other ways to establish the market value. In addition to the comparable sales method, there is also the “cost approach” which adds the cost of land, buildings and other improvements and adjusts for condition of facilities to determine the total value. The third method is the “income approach.” In this system the appraiser looks at the income and expenses generated by the property. Calumet and other refineries are generally appraised using the “cost approach.”
Here’s The Game They Play. . .
If a property owner does not agree with the Department of Revenue’s appraisal, there is an appeal process through the Montana Tax Appeals Board. That process allows the Department of Revenue and the appellant (say, Calumet) to negotiate a voluntary settlement. Calumet and other refineries in Montana routinely appeal their valuations and routinely enter settlements with the Department of Revenue which result in lowering their taxes. None of the negotiation meetings are public. And when their taxes are lowered, your taxes go up. For a complete explanation of how this works, follow the link below. https://dailymontanan.com/2023/07/26/big-corporations-get-tax-benefits-while-montana-resident-get-higher-property-taxes/
2012 Showdown In A Legislative Committee
Dan Bucks, the Department of Revenue Director under former Governor Brian Schweitzer, refused to play this game. Instead, he defended the appraised values by the Department of Revenue rather than entering settlements. Not surprisingly, big corporate taxpayers, like refineries, didn’t like Buck’s approach. In September 2012, three refineries attempted to set him up in front of the legislative interim committee on Revenue and Transportation in a failed attempt to apply political pressure.
At the same time, Connacher Oil and Gas Limited, the previous owners of the Great Falls refinery, reached a deal with Calumet to sell the refinery for $120 million. That purchase established the actual market value of the refinery. The Department of Revenue had appraised the value of the refinery at $70 million, and Connacher Oil had appealed that appraisal, arguing it was too high even though it was $50 million below the actual purchase price paid by Calumet. Below is an audio clip of Bucks explaining the issue to the legislative committee.
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00309/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20120914/-1/20693?startposition=20120914072325&mediaEndTime=20120914072507&viewMode=3&globalStreamId=4
Our Local Elected Officials Need to Represent Us, not Big Corporations
Too often local elected officials pander to these big corporations. Beware of politicians who talk about the economic benefits of “industrial development.” Too often we get taxes shifting more and more to residential and small business and underfunded public services. We need more people in government like Dan Bucks. We won’t get them if we (the public) don’t demand that the tax system is equitable and transparent and companies like Calumet pay their fair share.
by Ken Toole | Jul 9, 2024 | Taxes
In November of 2023, the Department of Revenue issued a paper warning legislators and others that Montana was facing dramatic increases in property taxes because of the increase in property values across the state. This was not the first time Montana had seen dramatic increases in property values. In the past, the legislature had avoided people’s bills going up by adjusting the state property tax rate multiplier in the residential property tax formula. It has been a simple fix. For more details follow this link https://dailymontanan.com/2023/07/26/big-corporations-get-tax-benefits-while-montana-resident-get-higher-property-taxes/
As legislators, both Lola Sheldon-Galloway and Steven Galloway were perfectly happy to let property taxes in Montana increase dramatically. But now it seems they were none too happy with the tax they were paying on their own property. Maybe it’s just that all of the public outcry following the last legislature got them thinking they might be able to play the same game large corporations, like Calumet, play in filing appeals then negotiating a “settlement” with the Department of Revenue behind closed doors. (See this editorial about property tax appeals:
https://dailymontanan.com/2024/06/26/there-is-a-way-for-montana-residential-property-taxes-to-go-down/ )
In case you didn’t know it, Galloway Investments owns the Dairy Queen located at 1651 Fox Farm Road. In late November of last year, the Galloways appealed their property taxes. Specifically, they challenged the Montana Department of Revenue’s appraisal of the value of the land the building sits on. After reviewing the appraised value at the request of the Galloways, the Department of Revenue stood by its valuation of the land value of $245,187, rejecting the Galloways’ estimate of the land being valued at $70,882. The Galloways then appealed the Department of Revenue’s valuation to the County Tax Appeals Board. The hearing on the Galloways’ appeal was held in early April. The County Tax Appeals Board denied the Galloways’ ’ appeal and left the valuation of the land at $245,187. On April 13th, WTF406 filed a public information request with the county requesting information on the Galloways’ appeal. The County Attorney’s office provided the information on June 13th.
Despite the fact that the Galloways have owned the property for at least 15 years and the property taxes have slowly increased overtime like many of the rest of us, suddenly they decided they just weren’t going to take it anymore and filed an appeal. And they proposed a dramatic reduction in the estimated value of the land, from $245,189 to $70,882, amounting to a reduction of more than 70 percent ($174,305). Wow!
Their justification in the appeal was that the land valuation is “Ridiculous.” They also argue that the Fox Farm Road Dairy Queen should be similar in value to the Dairy Queen on 9th Avenue, which they also own. According to their appeal, the value per square foot of the Fox Farm property is $17.87, while the 9th Avenue store is taxed at $5.16 per square foot.
The problem for the Galloways is that the Dairy Queen on 9th is not comparable. The Department of Revenue appraises land value of the 9th Street property at $116,250. The locations of the two properties are very different. Specifically, The Fox Farm location is just off 10th Avenue South and faces Fox Farm Rd, one of the busiest intersections in Great Falls. It is across the street from The Heritage Inn. The 9th Street Dairy Queen is tucked away in a mixed use neighborhood with far less traffic than the Fox Farm Road property. Many commercial properties have value based largely on the amount of traffic that can easily access the business.
After hearing the Galloways’ appeal, the local tax appeals board agreed with the Department of Revenue and denied their request for a tax break. They had thirty days from receipt of the local Tax Appeals Board decision to file an appeal with the State Tax Appeals Board. They apparently decided not to appeal.
It is ironic that both Galloways sat in legislative seats while the property tax crisis was tumbling through the 2024 legislature and did nothing. Lola Sheldon-Galloway sat on the House Taxation Committee for two sessions of the legislature, and Steven Galloway sat on the House Business and Labor Committee. They both had an opportunity to address Montana’s increase in property taxes. They chose to ignore it.
by Guest Writer | Jun 1, 2024 | Taxes
By Ryan Busse
Greg Gianforte raised your property taxes. And he did it deliberately, in order to give the wealthy and corporations huge tax cuts. That’s a simple truth that our governor doesn’t want you to hear, but it’s important for all Montanans to understand as we decide whether Gianforte deserves a second term.
Just last year, Gianforte and his supermajority in the Montana Legislature faced an important choice: Should they follow the recommendation from Gianforte’s own Department of Revenue, which suggested lowering the residential property tax rate from 1.35% to .94%in order to keep property taxes neutral — as previous Republican and Democratic governors have done? Or should they ignore that suggestion and bow to the lobbyists of wealthy corporations who pleaded for millions in tax cuts to bolster their profits?
Gianforte, of course, chose Option Two, walloping Montana homeowners and renters with the highest tax hike in state history so corporations could get their tax cuts. It hit the rest of us hard. The Gianforte Tax Hike is pinching Montana families at a time when our state is already facing a housing crisis.
Under Gianforte’s watch, Montana is the most expensive it’s ever been. And then he made it worse.
Only one Montanan — our governor — is ultimately responsible for raising property taxes. But that’s not what Gianforte wants you to believe. “It’s the counties’ fault,” he falsely claims. Or “city governments spend too much money,” he says. Those are lies. Just ask the countless elected Republican county commissioners and municipal leaders across our state who are furious that Gianforte is blaming them, willfully bearing false witness against his own neighbors.
Speaking of his neighbors, Gianforte is faring pretty well through his own tax hike, and that raises even more serious questions about whether he deserves a second term.
Public records show Gianforte’s next-door neighbors in Bozeman got slapped with a tax increase of nearly 71% in 2023, bringing their annual property taxes to over $11,680. But Gianforte’s mansion only got a tax increase of 19%, totaling $7,088. And it gets much, much worse.
Gianforte owns another mansion in Helena. According to a blistering investigation by MTN News, property taxes on every one of the 75 homes surrounding his privately owned mansion in Helena shot up dramatically. One of his neighbors got hit with a 62% tax hike. But what happened to Gianforte’s own property taxes? You guessed it. Somehow the tax bill on his Helena mansion went down nearly 7%. He gave himself a tax cut.
All of this is incredible but none of it is conjecture. It’s all easily verifiable with a few clicks on publicly available tax databases. And the governor hasn’t denied any of this. He refuses to answer questions about it.
Perhaps he believes it’s just his right to make things easier for wealthy people and harder for ordinary families. Perhaps he is proud of giving himself and his wealthy friends millions that could fund our public schools or provide tax relief to working people across this state.
Perhaps we should just take him at his word. After all, he warned us what his approach would be when he proclaimed, “the fairest tax is the one you pay and the one I don’t.”
One thing is for sure. As Montana faces another historic budget surplus, Greg Gianforte cannot be given another opportunity to make things even worse for the rest of us. He’s promised to stack the deck for people like him. We should believe him.
Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive, is a Democratic candidate for Montana governor.
