CI-121 misleading, bad for Montana

Know the consequences before signing the petition to put CI-121 on the November ballot. At face value, CI-121 and freezing your residential property taxes may sound like a good idea. But if you further investigate the details of this misleading ballot initiative, you will find several adverse consequences.

What is CI-121? It is a ballot initiative proposing a constitutional amendment that would freeze residential property value at the 2019 level and changes the assessed value to the acquisition value when purchased. This concept is not new and not from Montana. It is based on a California idea being proposed by a couple of Californians. If passed, CI-121 would insert an amendment into our state constitution that would freeze the value of all residential properties at the 2019 level, and not just owner-occupied homes. It would also freeze the value of second or third homes, vacation rentals, and other vacation properties. This will create a dramatic tax shift, putting most of the property tax burden on agriculture property, small businesses, and new homeowners, while wealthy out-of-staters enjoy a sizeable tax cut on their vacation home in Montana.

Further, freezing residential property values at 2019 levels does not help Montana citizens that have seen the value of their homes appreciate over the last couple of decades, especially in the recreational areas of Montana. This will discourage grandparents from downsizing because they will pay more in taxes for new smaller home. Young families will pay more in property taxes to purchase a different home to meet their growing needs. Meanwhile, since there would be no freeze on commercial property value, the tax burden borne by Montana’s small businesses, farmers, and ranchers will skyrocket. Property taxes provide the critical funding for local services vitally supporting our communities like your schools, courthouse, and local hospitals. If passed, CI-121 would undercut this critical funding and take away local control of schools and hospitals that will be forced to depend more on state and federal funding to survive.

Many the proponents of CI-121 also want to have a sales tax. By freezing residential property tax, it dries up funding for our schools and communities forcing us to replace this funding by imposing a sales tax.

Please understand all the consequences of CI-121 before locking this bad tax policy into our constitution that would freeze residential property taxes, unfairly shift the property tax burden onto hard-working Montanans, undercut critical funding for essential community services, and tying the hands of your local leaders.

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Walter Schweitzer is president of Montana Farmers Union