Property value increases in Montana are confusing and worrying Bozeman locals

Bozeman, Montana – Some Bozeman residents weren’t too pleased to discover a notification in their mailbox stating that their property value has increased significantly this year.

“My heart sunk a little bit thinking ‘wow, this is a huge increase’,” said Amy Katz.

Katz paid $280,000 for her house in Bozeman 16 years ago. She was aware that she might be faced with a significant load when she opened the mailbox in June.

“That notice we got that tells you now, the taxable value is $618,000,” said Katz.

And Katz is not the only one who worries.

“We’ve had tons of phone calls and emails to the commissioner’s office from people wondering what is going on with these assessments,” said Gallatin County Chief Financial Officer Justine Swanson.

Swanson asserts that despite the 10–30% increase in value of your property, your taxes may not increase by the same percentage.

“On the assessment, the Department of Revenue has attempted to make an estimate of what your property taxes will be,” said Swanson. “And unfortunately, they’re not very accurate.”

This is due to the taxation jurisdictions’ cap of 50% of the inflation rate over the previous three years.

“So those numbers they’re showing are way too high,” said Swanson.

Katz claims that after learning this, she decided not to oppose the price increases.

“Don’t make these protests when your property value probably has gone up that much,” said Katz.

However, you can still go to the Montana Tax Appeal Board website if you want to contest the property assessment that the Department of Revenue has assigned to it.

In the common room of the courthouse, the county will hold a town hall meeting regarding the property assessment on July 12.

Katz claims that she is hoping for improvement going forward.

“I think instead of property taxes going up and up, we should have some sales tax,” said Katz.