Sherry Essmann
HD 49 Billings
Common Sense Conservative

If it's too good to be true.....

Congratulations on approving the wishes and promises of another carpetbagger taking advantage of Montanan's generous, yet sometimes misguided, hearts.

Please read the Montana Free Press story on how this scammer, Brixtel Defense, deceived the city of Glendive, over half our legislators, and the Governor. This deal smelled fishy from the beginning. Now Glendive is left with empty promises, an ugly empty building, employees displaced, and a Governor and HB329 bill sponsor with a lot of egg on their faces

What's that old saying? If it seems to good to be true, it probably isn't true.

Please be careful and watchful of these deceitful, untrustworthy, manipulative, exploiters who would take advantage of our attempts to bring GOOD, SOLID, TRUSTWORTHY, PROVEN BUSINESSES to Montana. Real businesses won't try to cheat us out of the taxes they know and expect to pay if the want to be good corporate citizens.

Read the story here:

Brixtel

Is there any real relief in sight?

The last minute attempt in the 69the Legislative Session to address property tax reform fell short for too many Montanans. We need to attack one of the core problems during the next legislative session, which is the appraisal process and the way these appraisals affect the property taxes that we all pay. Let's use an Olympic average of the last ten years of appraisal values, dropping the high and the low, and using the resulting value for the appraisal value. The Department of Revenue (DOR) would recalculate every two years. Using averages levels the playing field, so that there would be less chance of getting the high property tax bills we all got the last couple of years. We would no longer see extremely low taxes when property values are deflated, but we wouldn't see the inflated outrageous taxes we have had recently. The DOR would have some programming to do, but in the long run the cost of the set up would be worth the reduced pain to the taxpayers.

I carried this bill, HB894, in the last legislative session, but it turned out to be too late in the process. As some of my fellow legislators are fond of saying, "The cake was already baked," and the powers that be had other property tax ideas, that in my opinion have just inflamed the entire property tax process. Instead of attacking the core problems, appraisal values and the fact that in Montana we have 17 property tax categories (REALLY???), we applied a band aid that has to be slowly and painfully removed.

Basing property tax on the purchase price of property is another idea that bears some consideration. However, reviewing the issues other states have faced with this form or taxation, one can learn that this system is also fraught with unpredictable problems. If you plan on staying in your home forever, this might be the system for you, but if you plan to upgrade or change neighborhoods as you grow, you might have a nasty surprise in store.

No system is perfect. If you have good ideas for changing the system, please either run for office or contact your legislators and give them your ideas. If you just sit back and complain, taking no action, you can expect the status quo will survive.

Tax Reform, Not Tax Rate Changes

The Governor has been lowering the income tax rate the last few sessions in hopes of getting to a flat tax. Most low to moderate income Montanans would not realize a significant savings, while high income earners benefit the most. This is a bad look for Republicans, especially if we are trying to be an inclusive party and do the best for everyday constituents.

To assure that most Montanans benefit from an income tax rate considerations, we should consider increasing the threshold for the lowest tax rate, currently 4.7%, from $47,000 to a living wage for Montana, currently approximately $90,000 for a family with two working adults and 2 children (Living Wage Institute ) to be sure we catch our citizens who are working hard to support their families and to enjoy the Montana way of life. High income earners would continue at 5.75%, which is in the mid range across the US.

This would be the beginning of reform that would work for all taxpayers.

Living Wage