Montana
In some Montana counties, tax appeal boards are hard to fill
Broadwater County is pictured (Upper Missouri Waterkeeper photo)
In some counties across Montana, finding people to fill the Tax Appeal Board can be challenging, and for at least one Broadwater County resident, that’s caused some frustration when it came time to pay her property taxes.
Tax Appeal Boards are required by state law of every county and allow a citizen to appeal their property taxes. They are to be made up of, at minimum, three people appointed by county commissioners.
Broadwater County recently had one member die and another move, County Commissioner Debi Randolph told the Daily Montanan, and just one member was listed on their website last week.
Randolph said the county has addressed the issue, but not before Broadwater County resident Linde Hoff ran into a situation where she says she was unable to appeal a property tax bill this year.
When Hoff got her property tax bill this year, rooms were added to her residential home that aren’t included in the house, so she and her husband appealed. Hoff, along with her neighbors, are also in a lawsuit against another neighbors regarding junk on the property.
That’s important because because during that lawsuit regarding junk, Hoff had a private assessor come to her property and found the neighboring property was devaluing theirs. This private assessment was also used to calculate her taxes, she said.
Tax Appeal Boards are supposed to give citizens a voice in their taxes, and in nuanced situations like Hoff’s, can allow for additional information to be presented to the county.
As Cascade County puts it on their website: “The primary purpose of the County Tax Appeal Board is to review the market value assigned by the Department of Revenue and to determine if the taxed property is correctly appraised at 100% market value.”
And if it’s not, that’s when changes to a person’s taxes can be made.
Hoff learned that the Tax Appeal Board wasn’t functioning while trying to go through with the process of filing an appeal. She was shuffled around between Broadwater County and the state, eventually being told to call Lewis and Clark County about the issue. Hoff said she was told to fill out the wrong form by Broadwater County treasurer Melissa Franks.
Broadwater County didn’t comment directly on Hoff’s situation, but said the tax appeal process is “confusing” and suggested citizens should use an attorney or accountant.
Hoff did call Lewis and Clark County Treasurer Amy Reeves and was told they can’t pull up that information from other counties, so they couldn’t help.
Hoff was also in contact with the state Department of Revenue. But DOR doesn’t “really play a role in the county’s tax appeal boards,” DOR communications director Jason Slead wrote in an email.
DOR sends a letter out and people have 30 days to appeal, which they need to do through a county form referred to as an “8026,” Franks said. If a property owner doesn’t like the response they get from the Department of Revenue, then there’s a separate form a person has to fill out to appeal it to a county tax board.
Hoff filled out the first form and a state employee did come out to their property, but nothing ever seemed to come out of it, she said. She then filled out the second form, was told there would be a call if something was wrong with it, and never heard back about it.
Now, Hoff said, she was told she has no recourse and will have to wait until next year. The new Broadwater County Tax Appeal board needs to be trained, and the county said they would wait until it was closer to a time they’d meet again. Tax Appeal Boards generally meet between July and October.
There is a Montana State Tax Appeal Board, but that’s an independent board separate from DOR, with members appointed by the Governor. That board handles disagreements that haven’t been resolved in a county Tax Appeal Board, though neither Franks nor Randolph appeared to know this during an interview on Friday, something the state clearly says in a video regarding the process.
Hoff said she feels “insulted,” though county officials did meet with her on Friday, she said. Hoff has successfully appealed property taxes before.
“I feel like I’m being ripped off by my government,” Hoff said, adding that someone needs to “take responsibility.”
‘No one wants to take that on’
Board vacancies are not unique to Broadwater County, nor is it limited to county Tax Appeal Boards.
In Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, there are currently only two members of the Tax Appeal board. It’s not for lack of trying — they are looking for someone to fill the position, secretary Jessica Dailey said, but they haven’t been able to do so.
“There’s been a vacancy for quite a while now,” Dailey said. “And I mean, we advertise it in the newspaper every so often, and we just don’t get any bites. It’s almost as if no one wants to take that on.”
And small numbers of board members can also put people in odd situations. In one instance Dailey said, one Tax Appeal Board member had to make the decision on one of the other board members’ taxes. Without any other board members, there was no other option.
“It would have been super helpful if we had another member on the board,” Dailey said.
Some Tax Appeal Boards, though, have no issue filling their ranks. Lake County Tax Appeal Board Secretary Kate Stinger said it’s “probably the easiest board” she’s had to fill.
“I think that’s probably because residents are interested in property taxes and frustrated with rising property taxes and maybe that’s the impact that they can have on that situation,” Stinger told the Daily Montanan.
There has been significant noise on the property tax issue in the Flathead and a lawsuit was filed this week by multiple current and former legislators, including Sen. Greg Hertz, a Polson Republican. Rising property values in one of the most scenic parts of the lower 48 states has been an ongoing issue in the area and second homes in the state are now taxed at a higher rate.
Both Stinger and Dailey said they were seeing significant increases in the number of appeals going through their boards. Franks said she hasn’t seen one since becoming Broadwater County’s treasurer.
Blaine County, meanwhile, recently went through the process of selecting a new Tax Appeal Board member. County Commissioner Miles Hutton said that board wasn’t a huge issue to fill, but others are.
“There’s lots of boards nobody wants to serve on,” Hutton said.
Across the state, many counties have a huge number of appointed boards. In Broadwater County, for example, there’s an airport board, a broadband advisory board, a county compensation board — all intended as a method of citizen engagement.
And if people don’t apply for these positions and serve terms, it doesn’t leave counties with many options.
“We rely on those boards a lot,” Randolph said. “They do a lot of research work for us, and deal with a lot of projects, where we don’t have time to deal with the beginning steps of them, and then they come to us, which is a wonderful community service that they provide.”
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BUTTE, Mont. — The Sentinel Spartans are the kings of Montana AA baseball.
In the inaugural season of AA baseball in the Treasure State, Sentinel took the title by winning three games in two days at the State AA Tournament, culminating with a 6-3 championship game victory over the Gallatin Raptors.
“It’s tough to find words right now,” said Sentinel head coach Brian Moser. “It was pretty emotional celebrating with the guys. Just really happy for them. What an opportunity. They took advantage of it. Very proud of them. Very appreciative of everything they’ve done for me and Sentinel High School and Sentinel baseball. It’s a great night to be a Spartan.”
Junior Stellan Ridley was stellar for Sentinel, with two triples, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Kaden Thennis added two hits, two runs, and an RBI while also drawing a hit by pitch. Owen Dale had a hit and a run batted in.
“We have a great mentality,” said Ridley. “I’m so proud of these young guys. As a junior and the seniors, leading us to this and showing how discipline works. We faced some chirpy people, and we just stayed with our level of the game and we performed, as you can see. We won the State Tournament!”
Each win for Sentinel in the tournament came in vastly different fashion.
The Spartans earned a nine-inning victory in their quarterfinal against Butte on Thursday, then came back from a 6-0 deficit after 4.5 innings in their Friday semifinal matinee against the Glacier Wolfpack. But on Friday night, in a game that started at 10 p.m. and ended at 12:08 a.m., Sentinel took an early lead and never trailed enroute to a victory over a Raptors team that had lost just one game all season.
“I had never played a game that late. Going from the early game, it was good that we had that little gap, we got to recuperate and take a solid power nap and come back out here with a lot of energy. Because if we came out flat, there was no way. But we came out with a lot of energy, and we stuck it to them. I mean, that team was good,” said Ridley of their hot start in the title game.
“Baseball is a funny game. There’s a lot of ways to win, there’s a lot of ways to lose. Just happy for the guys for sticking to it and never giving up.” said Moser. “Honestly, it takes a couple of lucky bounces here and there in a State Tournament, and we got those and took advantage. Beat a really, really good Gallatin team tonight. Just extremely proud.”
Gallatin managed to tie the game at 3 apiece in the fifth inning before the Spartans scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh, allowing freshman pitcher Lucas Johansson to earn the win and the save on the mound.
“It’s a big deal. 3 runs are way more than 1. It takes a lot of what the offense can do away. So those were huge, huge runs,” said Moser.
Johansson picked up two of the three wins in the tournament for Sentinel, while fellow freshman Paxson Onstot had the victory in the triumph over Glacier.
“I’m not going to say that’s how we drew it up, but that hopefully gives them confidence to come back next year ready to go,” said Moser. “We’ll have a target on our backs, but that’s okay. A lot of youth, it’s fun.”
Keaton Elliott tossed the first 4.1 innings of the title game for Sentinel, allowing just two hits, three earned runs, and five walks while striking out two.
The title marked the end of a remarkable turnaround for a Spartans team that started the season with a record of 5-7 before winning 10 of their last 11.
“(We got) absolutely shamed by our entire school (at assembly). It sat with me this whole time and I hated that. I just had so much drive,” said Ridley. “What are they going to say now?”
Wyatt Ford pitched a complete game for Gallatin, allowing three earned runs, five hits and a hit by pitch while striking out 10 on 103 pitches.
Ford and Louis Musial had the Raptors only two hits on the night, a triple and double, respectively, while Harvey Kimmel had two runs batted in.
Sentinel ends their season with a record of 15-8, while Gallatin concluded their campaign at 18-2.
“I think Gallatin came in here a little cocky. One loss the whole season, thinking they were going to probably roll us,” said Ridley. “No. We showed them up. Their eyes got big, and they realized we’re not a team to mess with.”
HELENA, Mont. — Montana counties have accepted enough signatures for Seth Bodnar, running for U.S. Senate and Michael Eisenhauer, running in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District, to be on the November ballot, although counts are still unofficial.
County election officials are continuing to verify signatures submitted by Tuesday’s deadline as part of the candidate petition process.
The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has not yet verified, certified or accepted the petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Counties must submit candidate petitions to the Secretary of State’s office by June 1.
The Secretary of State’s office will then conduct its “statutory review to ensure the petitions meet the necessary legal requirements under law.”
The deadline for the November general election ballot to be certified is Thursday, Aug. 20. By then, all qualifying candidates and any potential ballot issues that qualify for the general election will be officially certified.
The following was out by the Montana Secretary of State’s Office:
The attached report is unofficial. It includes totals that the county election officials have processed and entered in the system. These totals do not represent what the Secretary of State’s Office has received, reviewed, tabulated, or certified. The certified totals may differ from what is reflected.
Seth Bodnar, U.S. Senate
- 13,327 required
- 18,772 accepted
- 7,812 rejected
Kimberly Persico, MT-01
- 6,742 required
- 563 accepted
- 156 rejected
Michael Eisenhauer, MT-02
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- 7,274 required
- 7,754 accepted
- 4,720 rejected
Severe storms moved through parts of Montana on Thursday, prompting a total of 5 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Reports included strong wind gusts and hail in several communities, including Augusta, Choteau, Sunburst, Bigfork, Kalispell and Evergreen.
The strongest reported wind gust was 60 mph near Augusta, while hail up to 1 inch was reported near Evergreen and Kalispell.
STORM REPORTS:
12 SE Grant — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
7 NNE Augusta — 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Sunburst — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Ennis — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
3 SSW Ennis — 52 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 E Helena — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
19 E Swan Lake — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 NNW Yaak — thunderstorm wind damage – Multiple downed trees reported along Highway 2 between MM 3 and 8
3 WSW Blacktail — 53 mph thunderstorm wind gust
1 NNW Troy — 49 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Turah — 0.88″ hail
1 NNW Bigfork — 0.75″ hail
3 SW La Salle — 0.50″ hail
2 N Evergreen — 1.00″ hail
1 W Kalispell — 1.00″ hail
3 WNW Kalispell — 0.75″ hail
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