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Second home tax, other property tax relief bills clear the House

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Second home tax, other property tax relief bills clear the House


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 supporters, including sponsor Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, also fended off floor amendments brought by Rep. Terry Falk, R-Kalispell, that would have rewritten the measure wholesale.

The two Democratic bills forwarded to the Senate include House Bill 155, an alternative to the Gianforte-Jones bill that aims to rebalance the state property tax system without singling out homes that aren’t being used as primary residences. The other is House Bill 154, which would offer homeowners and renters an income tax credit to help offset their property tax bills.

Separately, the Montana Senate gave support with a 50-0 preliminary vote Wednesday to a property tax measure that would divert some lodging tax dollars to a permanent tax relief fund. That measure, Senate Bill 90, has been amended to remove earlier provisions that would have defunded state tourism promotion efforts. It’s been cited as a preferred option by some Republicans who dislike aspects of the Gianforte-Jones measure, including Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell.

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Several other property tax proposals have also been proposed by lawmakers so far this year, including a measure that would permit local option sales taxes to offset property taxes, address a loophole that allows luxury homes to qualify for agricultural tax breaks, constrain the growth of local government revenues, make it harder to pass property tax levies, and rework the rates that translate market-rate property values to the taxable values used for tax bills. 

Both the Gianforte-Jones bill and the Democratic alternative, HB 155, dial down the taxable value conversion rates for residential properties, making a smaller share of home values subject to the property tax math that divvies up the cost of schools, law enforcement and other local services. Both employ a tiered rate structure that focuses savings on lower-value properties and includes provisions intended to shield small businesses as taxes are shifted off homes and onto other classes of property.

In an effort to minimize how much its residential tax relief shifts taxes onto farms and business properties, the Gianforte-Jones bill also divides the state’s current residential tax category into homes that are and aren’t primary residences, taxing owner-occupied homes and long-term rental properties at lower rates than second-homes and Airbnb-style short-term rentals. Jones and the governor have justified that distinction by arguing that second homeowners often don’t pay the Montana income taxes that fund most of the cost of state-level public services.

Opponents of the governor-backed bill have argued that taxing second homes could produce a situation where Montana residents are saddled with untenable taxes on a longtime family vacation home. They also note that the state would have to ask homeowners and landlords to file applications in order to claim the lower tax rate.

While the bill specifies that an initial eligibility list would be based on homeowners who received property tax rebates following the 2023 session, opponents are worried that the application requirement would leave eligible property owners who miss the memo saddled with higher taxes.

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Debating the Gianforte-Jones bill on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, drew a comparison to the state’s Medicaid redetermination process, where she said tens of thousands of people lost their state-managed health coverage as a result of procedural issues.

“My concern is that we may have a similar experience with this application process for people who didn’t get the rebate,” Caferro said.

Jones said that the state would be able to offer a simple one-time, one-page application. “Once you’re signed up as a homeowner, then you’ll be able to remain signed up until there’s a change in the property,” he said.

Falk made a similar argument as he pushed to amend the bill so it would avoid the second home distinction, saying a simpler measure would avoid a “crazy application process.”

Jones argued the nature of Montana’s tax system means lowering taxes on one type of property isn’t possible without “squeezing the balloon” onto another type of property — making the effort to collect extra revenue from second homes a vital part of the governor’s proposal.

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“This is a difficult problem to make work — you have to have a revenue source,” Jones said. “This wasn’t the executive or the governor’s idea — until I forced them to model this, they didn’t think it would work either.”

The second Democratic bill, HB 154, would create an income tax credit that offsets property taxes for middle- and lower-income homeowners and renters, specifying that renters can attribute 15% of their rent bill to taxes. Its sponsor, Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, has argued that tying property and income taxes together would make Montana’s tax system more responsive to individual circumstances.

“Unlike income taxes, property taxes don’t adjust based on means, or adjust when hard times hit,” Karlen said during Wednesday’s floor debate.

RELATED

Property taxes, explained — with pictures

Property values have risen dramatically in Montana, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you (or your landlord) will pay higher property taxes. If you want to know why, read our property tax explainer — with pictures.

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Karlen and other Democrats also say a tax credit that includes renters would address their concern that under other bills landlords would either be left out of tax relief efforts or pocket any savings. Jones, in contrast, has argued that market competition will force landlords to pass the savings onto their tenants.

The Karlen bill’s journey across the House floor, where it passed 59-39, was boosted by a coordination clause added to the Gianforte-Jones measure as its backers sought to win Democratic votes. That clause, which could be removed by the Senate, specifies an additional rate discount for lower-value homes if the tax credit bill fails to make it to the governor’s desk.

House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan acknowledged in a press conference this week that tying the governor’s key policy proposal to a Democratic priority bill was “confusing,” but said it was consistent with the caucus’s efforts to advance proposals that it believes provide relief for working Montanans.

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”We really are just trying to move more than just one bill through this process and continue a conversation,” Sullivan said. “And sometimes we do weird things to make that happen.”

The other Democratic bill, the explicit alternative to Gianforte-Jones bill, passed its final House vote this week 68-30.

Zeke Lloyd contributed reporting.



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Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Big Sky Bonus results for May 8, 2026

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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at May 8, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from May 8 drawing

37-47-49-51-58, Mega Ball: 16

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from May 8 drawing

09-14-18-20, Bonus: 16

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 8 drawing

14-16-21-43-51, Bonus: 03

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

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When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
  • Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
  • Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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“It’s Life Alert or rent”: Montana trailer park tenants are on rent strike

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“It’s Life Alert or rent”: Montana trailer park tenants are on rent strike


Mobile home residents in Bozeman, Montana, say they’re being forced to choose between paying rent and paying medical costs.Courtesy of Jered McCafferty

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35-year-old Benjamin Moore has lived in Mountain Meadows Mobile Home Park, outside Bozeman, Montana, since he was 17. This month, for the first time, he’s withholding his rent.

On May 1, Moore received a rent bill for $947, up 11 percent from the month before, and the second hike in nine months—the product of the park’s sale to an undisclosed buyer. 

Moore hung a sign on his trailer that says “RENT STRIKE.” He and his neighbors in Mountain Meadows and nearby King Arthur Park, organized with the citywide group Bozeman Tenants United, are collectively withholding over $50,000 a month from their landlord. 

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Historically, trailer parks have been a relatively affordable housing option—a third of trailer park residents in America live below the poverty line. But on average, their cost of living has risen 45 percent over the past decade. By unionizing, the Bozeman trailer park tenants believe they might be able to fight the most recent rent hike—especially given the state of their housing. 

For years, tenants say, the maintenance hasn’t been attended to: tree limbs hang perilously over trailers, and water shutoffs are a regular occurrence. “I cannot recall a time in the past 20 years where we had three straight months of water and power working all day, every day,” Moore said. 

Shauna Thompson, another resident, calls the water “atrocious…like a Milky Way, like you’re drinking skim milk. It’s very nasty and turned off all the time, without any notice.” And tenants allege that they’ve experienced retribution for maintenance requests, punitive eviction attempts, and unsafe conditions. 

A group of protestors in support of a rent strike rip up rent notices.
Members of Bozeman Tenants United, including Benjamin Moore and Shauna Thompson, rip up their rent increase notices. Jered McCafferty

“It’s really hard on people here,” Moore said. Some residents are “already paying their entire Social Security check for rent. It’s a very poor neighborhood. We’ve got old folks. We’ve got young families. We’ve got working-class people who can’t afford anything else.”

For the past four decades, a group called Oakland Properties has owned both trailer parks. When they learned about the sale, tenants were scared that their parks would be bulldozed, or that their rent would be increased even further, forcing them to move. 

The tenants attempted to buy the parks themselves, but were decisively outbid. The winning bidder demanded an NDA. The transaction should be finalized next month, park owner Gary Oakland said, but residents still don’t know who’s going to own the land they live on.

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This month’s rent hike, Oakland acknowledged, was “part and parcel” of the sale. But for tenants, it’s a catastrophe. On top of the $947 lot rent—more than double the national average—many residents also pay off home loans on their trailers, as well as insurance and utilities costs.

Oakland calls claims of broken utilities “nonsense”: “If it was such a bad place to live, why would the homes be selling for such high dollars?” he said. The rent strike, Oakland points out, is “just a group of people not paying their rent.”

Some people are rationing their medication to make ends meet, Moore said. “There’s one person who canceled Life Alert. It’s either Life Alert or rent, and if you don’t pay rent, they evict you and throw you in the streets.” 

An older woman in a wheelchair with oxygen tubes holds a rent notice and a rent strike sign.
Many of the tenants of King Arthur and Mountain Meadows parks rely on a fixed income to pay their rent.Jered McCafferty

Tenant organizers across the nation have found a foothold in recent years organizing against individual landlords, and Bozeman’s tenant union, situated in one of the fastest-growing communities in the state, is no exception. Tenant unions from Los Angeles to Kansas City to New York have organized to win rent freezes, maintenance, and security in their homes.

Mobile home parks—increasingly private-equity-owned and uniquely at-risk in the face of climate disasters—are organizing, too: a group of trailer park residents in Columbia, Missouri, unionized in February. In Montana, as Rebecca Burns recently wrote for In These Times, mobile homes were already once a site of tenant organizing: buoyed by the state’s miners unions, the first Bozeman-area mobile home tenants’ union won an agreement with their landlord in 1978.  

Oakland says park residents “have been terrorized by the union,” and plans to evict the strikers. The strikers say they’ve retained a lawyer and will fight to stay in their homes.

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“I wish none of this was happening,” Moore said. “Your utilities should work. Your place should be safe. You should be able to get in and out of it. These are the absolute basics, and they just haven’t kept them up. And if you call them on it, they threaten you.”



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Montana’s fastest man who started as a walk on

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Montana’s fastest man who started as a walk on


Karsen Beitz arrived at Montana with no scholarship offers, one remaining walk-on spot and no guarantee that his track career would last.

Now, the former Sentinel High School standout is one of the fastest athletes in Montana history.

Beitz, a Missoula native and junior sprinter for the Grizzlies, has turned an unlikely college opportunity into a record-setting career. He owns Montana’s 100-meter and 200-meter program records and enters next week’s Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships as one of the top sprinters in the league.

Coming out of high school, Beitz was a football and track athlete without a Division I offer.

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“I was upset about it,” Beitz said. “But at the same time, I was fine with just going to college and living a normal college life.”

That changed after conversations between Sentinel coach Dylan Reynolds and Montana coach Doug Fraley.

“You may not think he’s a D-I prospect based on his times,” Reynolds told Fraley, “but I’m just telling you, if he gets in the right program, he’s going to be a D-I runner.”

Fraley had one walk-on spot left on his roster. He brought Beitz into his office, talked with him and decided to take a chance.

“I liked him. We had a good conversation, so I decided to give him the last walk-on spot,” Fraley said. “I’m sure glad I did.”

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Beitz became a Division I athlete in his hometown, but his first goal was modest. He wanted to prove he belonged and earn a scholarship.

He did that quickly.

As a freshman, Beitz placed at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships and helped Montana’s 4×100-meter relay reach the podium with a school-record performance.

“There was no doubt he earned that scholarship,” Fraley said.

Beitz continued to climb in 2025. He placed second in the 200 meters at the Big Sky indoor meet, but a hamstring injury kept him out of the outdoor championships.

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“It sucked to deal with,” Beitz said. “But I’m young and still had two years left, so I shifted my mindset to how I could come out these next two years.”

He has not looked back.

Beitz won the 200 meters at the 2026 Big Sky indoor championships, the first individual conference title of his track career. His time of 21.09 seconds edged Idaho State’s Alex Conner by one-hundredth of a second.

“I think the best part about it was seeing how happy Doug was,” Beitz said. “He was jumping up and down, gave me a big hug. After last year, I knew what I was capable of, so to go out there and do it was amazing.”

Then came the outdoor season.

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In April, Beitz broke Montana’s 58-year-old 200-meter record, running 20.55 seconds at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in Long Beach, California. The previous record had stood since 1968.

Two weeks later, he added the school’s wind-legal 100-meter record, running 10.25 seconds at the Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho. Which broke a 44-year-old program record and gave Beitz both sprint marks.

“He’s a really competitive guy, and he wants to be the best in the Big Sky,” Fraley said.

The records have not left Beitz satisfied. They have made him hungrier.

“You have all these goals and numbers in your mind,” Beitz said. “Then once you hit those numbers, you’re not satisfied. There’s just more numbers to chase.”

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The next chase begins at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships, scheduled for May 13-16 in Portland, Oregon.

After college, Beitz hopes to follow his mother’s footsteps and become a pharmacist. Maybe even the world’s fastest pharmacist.

“If I’m running around the hospital talking to doctors,” Beitz said, “I’ll do it pretty fast.”

From a walk-on few people noticed to a conference champion and school-record holder, Beitz has become Montana’s fastest man — and he is not done running.



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