Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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Gov. Greg Gianforte announced that he has appointed state Rep. Marta Bertoglio as the director of the Montana Department of Commerce, which administers state business development grants and conducts other economic development efforts. Bertoglio, a third-term Republican from Clancy, fills a vacancy created in February after then-commerce director Paul Green, himself a former Republican lawmaker from Hardin, left the role to run Big Sky Economic Development. This regional economic development authority serves the Billings area. Deputy Commerce...
The major property tax relief package signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte this month is set to bring double-digit property tax cuts to many Montana homeowners and landlords by the time it is fully implemented in 2026, according to projections from the Montana Department of Revenue. It will also bring massive tax increases-in excess of 60%-to many residential properties that don't qualify for a new "homestead" exemption aimed at reducing the tax burden on primary residences. Similarly, taxes...
mittee voted down two major tax bills backed by Gov. Greg Gianforte Wednesday, killing a measure that would have cut a full percentage point off the state’s primary income tax rate and another that would have increased property taxes on second homes as part of efforts to lower homeowner tax bills. The Republican-controlled committee, chaired by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, also voted down an income tax credit-based property tax relief bill that minority-party Democrats had pushed through the House. Separately, the Senate Finance and Claims Commit...
Representatives from Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T asked Montana lawmakers Friday to pass a bill that would offer them a property tax break if they expand their Montana networks, saying a lighter tax load on wireless infrastructure would encourage them to invest in reaching difficult-to-serve rural areas. The proposal, Senate Bill 534, would add wireless infrastructure such as cell towers to an existing tax break available to companies that expand their wired broadband networks. Shortly after the bill wrapped its initial public hearing before the...
A trio of major property tax relief bills — Gov. Greg Gianforte’s flagship effort to pull down homeowner property taxes by boosting taxes on second homes and two other measures pitched by Democrats — passed the Montana House with bipartisan votes Thursday, advancing to the state Senate. Gianforte’s bill, House Bill 231, was amended by the House Appropriations Committee last week in an effort to win the Democratic votes necessary to overcome opposition from some Republicans. It ultimately passed the House on a 68-30 margin. The bill’s supporter...
Lawmakers who want to offer Montana residents substantial immediate property tax relief face an inescapable mathematical reality: Unless they want to force local governments to lay off cops and teachers, the money to lower residential property tax bills has to come from somewhere. That somewhere, for one of the first major tax relief proposals to get a hearing before a legislative committee this year, is the state’s current pair of bed taxes: a 4% lodging facility use tax and a 4% lodging sales tax. Together, those taxes collect about $120 m...
As he launches a rare independent campaign to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale for the privilege of representing eastern Montana in the U.S. House, Billings businessman Gary Buchanan is running without the support of a major political party — but with backing from some of the state’s preeminent elder statesmen. Buchanan, who has held appointed positions in state government as far back as the 1980s, was formally endorsed at a Friday rally at the state Capitol by Democrat Dorothy Bradley and Republican Marc Racicot, who...
