PAID POLITICAL COMMENTARY - Lowering property taxes and protecting public access are top issues in Montana

Published Oct. 17, 2024

By Ryan Busse

I’ve put more than 100,000 miles on Montana’s highways over the past year, listening to people in every corner of our state. There are two issues that come up everywhere I go: The first is Gov. Greg Gianforte’s record high property taxes and the sky-high cost of living here. The second is the governor’s dangerous war on access to our public land and wildlife.

While the cost of living in Montana has skyrocketed, Gov. Gianforte made the problem worse by raising property taxes by as much as 111%. Don’t let him point his finger at anyone else. The governor is responsible for authorizing the 1.35% residential property tax rate that all homeowners (and renters) have to pay.

What’s worse, while Gov. Gianforte’s tax increase was pricing hardworking Montanans out of their homes, he handed out tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires like himself. In fact, Gov. Gianforte is the only homeowner in his neighborhood who is paying less in property taxes on his privately owned mansion, not more.

Lowering your property taxes is my Day One priority as Montana’s next governor. It’s as simple as lowering the tax rate — something Gianforte refuses to do.

But the governor’s unaffordable Montana isn’t the only issue on Montanans’ minds. Gianforte has spent 15 years weakening Montana’s public lands. As a wealthy property owner, he sued the people of Montana to block public access to a river running through his property.

As a congressman, he championed legislation that was the single biggest rollback of protected public lands in Montana history. 

And over the past four years as governor, Gianforte has deliberately dismantled the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). He fought to outlaw “corner-crossing,” the long-established right for hunters and anglers to step from one corner of public land to another without even leaving a footprint on private land. Last year in Region Six, under Gianforte’s watch, more mule deer tags went to out-of-staters than to Montanans. 

This isn’t a Democrat-versus-Republican issue; it’s a question about what we Montanans want for the future of our state.

Do we want a Montana where wealthy out-of-staters automatically get better access to wildlife and the right to lock ordinary Montanans out of our own public lands? If so, Gianforte may be your candidate. 

Or do we want a Montana where everyone is equal when it comes to accessing public lands and wildlife? If so, vote for me, Ryan Busse, to stop Gianforte from his war on our public lands and wildlife.

As a lifelong angler, hunter and firearms executive, I know how infuriating it is to watch Gianforte turn the Montana we love into a playground for wealthy out-of-staters.

Lowering property taxes and ensuring the public has access to the land and water they own shouldn’t be a tough ask of any governor. Unfortunately, it is Greg Gianforte’s legacy. I’m running for governor to get your Montana back, because we can’t afford four more years of his dangerous, failed leadership.

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ITALICPaid for by Busse for Montana, PO Box 8537 Kalispell, MT 59904, Democrat. ENDITALIC