Seeking solutions to the property tax dilemma

For the past few months, I have been working diligently on the property reappraisal problem. In conjunction with the other legislators in the area, we have hosted several town hall meetings where we were able to listen to people from all over Flathead and Lake counties about their concerns with the inequity in property taxation. I have also had dozens of discussions with property owners along with many discussions with the local property tax assessor's office. We have paid close attention to your suggestions for solutions.

We have come up with a three-pronged approach in tackling the property taxation problem.

First is a legislative approach. The Legislature can work on several ideas, including A) acquisition costs, or property tax based on what you paid for the property; B) an annual tax bill cap that, for example, could stipulate that the increase cannot exceed 5 percent; C) home exemption increase which reduces your primary residence tax; D) state energy development with would make better use of natural recourses to help fund education and eliminate the burden on property taxes; and E) return to 2002 assessments and implement more mitigating options, since because of broad swings in the real estate market, many assessments were simply wrong.

Second are ballot initiatives. There are several groups that have formed to add a ballot initiative to the next election, which would offer very pointed changes to the process. One is an acquisition cost initiative, 'similar to Proposition 13 in California). Another is a constitutional amendment which allows the people to be more fairly taxed. And still another is a constitutional amendment to keep property from being taken by the state.

Thirdly, is a lawsuit against the State of Montana. There are several people who have felt that the current property tax system is not just unfair, it's illegal. Some have filed lawsuits already to make their point.

Several of your legislators, including me, are currently preparing ideas to form bills to submit for the 2011 session. Many of us would like to meet now as a Legislature to introduce these ideas for a much more rapid fix. However, the governor has made it very clear that he is not interested in addressing this issue now.

In the meantime, we are closely following the appeal process that many of you are going through to contest the valuation of your property (AB-26). This process is a very slow process due the high number of appeals. However, I have heard from many that have completed the process that it is working, and the assessor's office is changing the values to a much more reasonable valuation than originally done.

If you are having a difficult time with this process, please do not hesitate to contact either myself or the assessor's office directly for help. Their staff has been very courteous and helpful by all reports.

In conclusion, I suppose the more I study this problem the more I dislike property tax in general. Many of you are retired living on fixed income and have worked your entire life to have a home which is free and clear with no obligation. Unfortunately, the state continues to raise revenue through increasing property taxes based on the current valuation of the property. This can become very volatile for some, especially our senior citizens.

It is my desire to shift the burden of revenue from our property owners to our vast wealth of energy within the state. We can do a better job in our development of natural resource and alternative energy. It's absurd that instead of making use of these God-given resources, we are heaping the burden of state revenue on the backs of our property owners.

Reichner, a Republican from Bigfork, is the representative for House District 9 to the Montana State Legislature.