Kathleen Kimble, a Missoula resident who has seen significant increases to her property taxes, expected her retirement in to be full of local concerts and comfort with her husband in the house they've shared since 1992. Kimble and her husband are both on fixed incomes, but their property tax bill from went from $3,198 in 2018 to $4,934 in 2023.

Randy Kadish, who has lived in a condo in Missoula for the past 8 years and is on a fixed income, saw his condo reappraisal go from $131,000 to $244,000 and his tax bill increased by 300% in the past year.

The Missoula County Clerk and Treasurer, Tyler Gernant, has been very critical of the state in allowing the property taxes to spike.

“This was an opportunity for the state to take a leadership role in reducing the cost of homeownership, and they chose to go a different route,” said Gernant.

In November 2022, the department of revenue saw that Montana property reappraisals increased 40-60% in the past two years. The department warned state legislators ahead of their 2023 session that Montana property taxes were going to skyrocket, advising them to lower the state's mill rate in order for property taxes to stay the same. The government levied property taxes at the maximum 95 mill rate instead of 77.89 mill rate, the rate for which the state counties advocated for that would keep property taxes from spiking.

According to Schweitzer, this raise in property taxes is also coming at a time when the government has an $800 million-dollar surplus.

“As the governor has said repeatedly, most local governments, including counties, are good stewards of taxpayer resources, live within their means, and exercise restraint with property tax increases. Some, however, are spending out of control, continue to fund their largesse with skyrocketing property taxes, and unreasonably put that heavy burden on the backs of Montana homeowners. The governor and legislators in 2021 and 2023 enacted fiscally responsible, conservative budgets that have held the line on new spending, permanently cut Montanans’ taxes, and provided Montanans with up to almost $4,000 in tax rebates. The counties that are spending and taxing at alarming rates should take that page out of the governor’s playbook and rein in their spending and taxes.”

However, according to Gernant and Schweitzer, local government can only raise taxes on its residents by half the rate of inflation from the past three years, far less than the amount property taxes were raised on homeowners.

Montana Right Now: Montanans on fixed incomes are dealing with the consequences of rising property taxes