Republican mayor blasts Gov for historic tax hike as court orders counties to collect more money
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KALISPELL, Mont. – Just in time for the holidays, Republican Governor Greg Gianforte has a message for Montana taxpayers already saddled with his historic property tax hike:
“We’ll have to send out another bill.“
That was Gianforte’s response to a recent question from Kalispell’s KGEZ radio, when asked about the possibility that the Montana Supreme Court might side with Gianforte’s push for higher property taxes for homeowners.
All but seven of Montana’s 56 counties, most of them run by Republican commissioners, had opted to collect 77.9 mills this year instead of the normal 95 mills for the School Equalization Fund. That’s because the value of a single mill increased so much that 77.9 mills in 2023 is roughly equal to the value of 95 mills in 2022.
The Montana Supreme Court on November 22 ordered all counties to collect the full 95 mills.
Ignoring early warnings from his own Department of Revenue, Gianforte chose not to adjust residential property tax rates and instead falsely blamed his tax hike on local city and county governments:
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- “We need to bring accountability to property taxes and work with these local communities to rein in spending, because that’s where it’s coming from,” Gianforte claimed on Montana Talks on November 9.
- “We’ve got to rein in local spending. That’s what’s driving local property taxes,” Gianforte claimed on KGVO’s Talk Back on November 16.
- “Property taxes do not come to the State of Montana,” he claimed on Talk Back a few days later, on November 20. “They’re driven by local spending at the county level.”
These lies, coupled with the Supreme Court’s decision, prompted the Republican mayor of Choteau, Mont., to blast Gianforte in an open letter.
“You are likely to see a large tax increase,” Mayor Chris Hindoien wrote on November 24. “Governor Gianforte, along with the Governor’s Housing Task Force and some members of the Legislature, have tried to blame local government for that tax increase. THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE.”
More from Mayor Hindoien’s open letter:
Governor Gianforte put the increased state’s portion of the homeowner taxes into his budget, and that was subsequently approved for appropriations by the Legislature to be spent. And, since the Legislature did not lower the tax rate, nearly $200 million a year in additional homeowner property taxes (according to the Department of Revenue) were permanently added on the backs of Montana homeowner taxpayers.
Because of the intricacies of the property tax laws, this caused a $110 million tax shift away from industry and corporations onto the backs of Montana homeowners. In just one year, the homeowners’ share of property taxes in Montana increased by 6% (from 53% to 59%) – one of the largest tax shifts in history.
QUICK FACTS:
- Pronunciation: Ryan BUSS’-ee
- Home: Kalispell, Mont.
- Office Sought: Governor of Montana
- Affiliation: Democrat
- Website: busseformontana.com
- X (Twitter): @ryandbusse
- DOB: 2/23/70 (53)
- Occupation: Writer, Consultant, Firearms Expert and Former Executive (Vice President of Sales, Kimber America: 1995-2020)
- Family: Married to Sara for 24 years; two sons: Lander (18) and Badge (15)
- Alma Mater: Bethany College (Kansas)
- Chevy Odometer: 280,000 miles
- Hunting Dogs: Aldo and Teddy
- Bio: Ryan Busse is an author and former firearms executive who helped build the gun company Kimber from Kalispell between 1995 and 2020. Over his 25-year career Busse directed the sales of nearly three million Kimber firearms. His memoir, Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America, was published by PublicAffairs (Hachette) in 2021. Busse was born near the Kansas cattle ranch homesteaded by his great-grandfather. He is an avid hunter, angler and champion of public lands, and has held leadership positions with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Montana Conservation Voters. Busse and his wife Sara live in Kalispell and have two teenage sons.