Missoula County opposes HB 476: Provide for property tax exemption for certain residential property, up for hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the House Taxation Committee. The current property tax system ensures that everyone pays the same amount in property taxes within their taxing jurisdiction based on the taxable value of their property. To provide equitable relief, the legislature should consider adjusting the tax rate of 1.35% for residential housing instead of placing a cap on the tax class.
When a cap is placed on a tax class or, in this case, a subset of that tax class, the taxes don’t go away, they are simply pushed onto another tax class. Residential property taxes in the State of Montana have continued to increase annually not just because of a surge in home prices, but also because of the continued shift of the tax burden over the last 15 years from centrally assessed, business and business personal property tax classes to the residential property tax class. This was done through artificially manipulating the system of tax equalization, such as granting reductions in taxable values to centrally assessed properties every time they protest their taxes in Helena, or granting exemptions for certain tax classes, such as the business personal property tax class.
When tax rates are adjusted, tax equalization continues to work, but when tax classes are artificially manipulated by caps, exemptions or lowered taxable values for specific properties, the tax bill is pushed to another class, which often is the residential property tax class.
Sent 2/16:
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives Thane and Marler,
Missoula County opposes HB 476: Provide for property tax exemption for certain residential property, up for hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the House Taxation Committee. The current property tax system ensures that everyone pays the same amount in property taxes within their taxing jurisdiction based on the taxable value of their property. To provide equitable relief, the legislature should consider adjusting the tax rate of 1.35% for residential housing instead of placing a cap on the tax class.
When a cap is placed on a tax class or, in this case, a subset of that tax class, the taxes don’t go away, they are simply pushed onto another tax class. Residential property taxes in the State of Montana have continued to increase annually not just because of a surge in home prices, but also because of the continued shift of the tax burden over the last 15 years from centrally assessed, business and business personal property tax classes to the residential property tax class. This was done through artificially manipulating the system of tax equalization, such as granting reductions in taxable values to centrally assessed properties every time they protest their taxes in Helena, or granting exemptions for certain tax classes, such as the business personal property tax class.
When tax rates are adjusted, tax equalization continues to work, but when tax classes are artificially manipulated by caps, exemptions or lowered taxable values for specific properties, the tax bill is pushed to another class, which often is the residential property tax class.
Please oppose HB 476.