Hill County Commission hears objection to county road tax ask

At their weekly business meeting Thursday the Hill County Commission heard a complaint about a proposal on this year’s primary ballot to increase taxes for the county’s road department, and reaffirmed their support for the long embattled Senate Bill 442.

The complaint was made by Hill County resident Rob Spicher, who said the vote is inherently unfair due to who it affects and who can vote on it.

The proposal, which will double the mills collected from county residents for the road department to improve and repair the county’s long-suffering roads, will be on the primary ballot later this year, for all county residents to vote on, as long as their registration address is not in Havre or Hingham city limits, as they would not be paying the tax.

Spicher said this is unfair to landowners who live in the city but own land in the county, as they will be paying the tax on those properties, but will not be permitted to vote on it, which he says is unfair.

He said many of his friends in Hingham are upset about the proposal which he cannot support in its current state, despite his desire to improve the roads, and if the county faces a legal challenge over the matter it could tie up any money the tax generates, defeating the whole purpose.

“I’ve been involved with this discussion for less than a week and I’m not done finding problems with this,” he said. “... In this society, where everyone screams and yells and protests about free and fair elections this not in that category.”

Hill County Clerk and Recorder Lexis Dockter, the county’s top election administrator, said she understands his objection and feels this is something that probably should have been talked about before the resolution to put it on the ballot was submitted, but at this point, the ballot is more or less set in stone.

Dockter said the ballot cannot be changed at this point in the process, and the way the resolution is worded is in line with the procedures used in federal primary elections.

She said an election to set up a special taxing district could be called to address that matter, as they have different rules, but she would need to speak with the county attorney before saying more.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said he also understands where Spicher is coming from, and said they will do as much as they can to inform voters about what the tax would go toward, and they are currently developing a priority list for roads and areas most in need of work.

Peterson said his generation and those that came after dropped the ball when it comes to maintaining infrastructure, and they need to get back to the old practices that kept the transportation system working, a system that benefits everyone.

Spicher said voters should receive a comprehensive written plan and timeline that lays out exactly what the money will go toward as well as consistent messaging about the task, whether that’s through dialogue with the commission or local media stories.

Peterson said messaging should be handled through individual conversation, and asked that anyone who comes to the commission with comments do so in a positive manner.

The commission also discussed their continued support for an upcoming attempt to override the veto of Senate Bill 442, passed by the 2023 Montana Legislature, the deadline for which is next week.

SB 442 allocates tax revenue generated from the sale of recreational marijuana to conservation, veteran care and county roads, and was passed in the 2023 Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The bill was vetoed by Gov. Greg Gianforte just before the Senate adjourned, leaving most senators unaware of his action, but because it technically happened while the session was still going, the governor’s office and the Montana Secretary of State’s office argued that the Legislature was not entitled to a mail poll to possibly override the veto.

A year-long legal battle ensued with Montana courts siding with the bill’s supporters, and ordering the Secretary of State’s Office to initiate a mail poll or appeal the decision to a higher court.

The office opted for the former, but not without criticizing the court’s decision in a highly unusual letter to legislators.

County commissioners across the state, including in Hill County, have been voicing strong support for the bill for its entire lifespan, and the Hill County Commission reiterated that support Thursday.

During Thursday’s meeting Peterson read a letter from the Montana Association of Counties which voiced its continued support for the bill and strongly criticized efforts by Gianforte and Montana Senate leadership to muddy the waters on the validity of the courts’ decision.

Montana Senate leadership has accused the judiciary of violating the checks and balances of the state’s government, which MACo’s letter said is the exact opposite of what is happening.

The letter said the governor’s aggressive opposition to the bill, which passed with the support of 130 of 150 state legislators during an incredibly partisan session, disrespects the will of the people and their representatives, but his attempts to prevent a potential veto override go further and violate the law, as the courts ruled.

The letter said the ruling protects the Legislature’s right to check the power of Gianforte and is in no way an infringement upon either, and any attempt to paint it otherwise is “pure political gamesmanship.”

It also said the argument pushed by Gianforte and his allies, that it is unacceptable to allocate state money to county roads, is similarly nonsensical, as the state often provides funding for county benefits and the state itself receives a tremendous amount of funding from the federal government.

The letter went on to say that any legislators trying to sabotage this bill through political spin and misinformation for the sake of political gain will have proven themselves poor representatives of the people and their actions should be remembered, a sentiment repeated by Peterson himself.

Peterson said Gianforte has said that the state shouldn’t be taking on things that are county responsibilities, but the county is already made to maintain a number of pieces of road infrastructure that belong to the state, making that argument invalid.

Montana Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, was at the meeting and said he agrees with the commission and MACo that this bill is a victim of political gamesmanship, a ploy by Gianforte that has lost him a lot of Tempel’s respect, one that Senate leadership is playing along with.

Tempel said he knows Montana Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, has had it in for this bill from the beginning, as has Gianforte, but it seems unfounded rhetoric about court overreach is bringing in more support.

He said it’s too early to tell whether it will be enough to shift the tide on the, until recently, widely supported bill, but he will not change his mind.

“I supported it from the get go, and I still do,” he said.

Tempel, a longtime Liberty County commissioner, said the bill would be a massive help for county roads across the state, and Hill County’s commissioners agreed.

If the override fails, the matter may come back up in the next session, and the commission and Tempel advised people to make their voices heard there, on this, or anything that matters deeply to them.

Tempel said physically being in the room, and looking legislators in the eye can really be effective if people want to be truly heard, and Peterson agreed.

Peterson said if people want to be heard they don’t need a long speech, as a lot can be communicated in just a minute of time.

During the meeting the commission also approved a number of resolutions including requests for prosecutorial assistance from Hill County Attorney Lacy Lincoln in the prosecution of Angel Castillo-Haffley, Angelo Hawk Sanchez and a juvenile.

The two 18-year-old California men, along with a 16-year-old boy whose name has not been released, are the primary suspects in the shooting deaths of two Rocky Boy men, Darin Benard Caplette, 41, and Thomas Roderick Yallup, 42 last month in Box Elder.

Law enforcement said the shooting appears to have been a targeted assault.