Gianfortes Don’t See Property Tax Rates Rise Like Their Neighbors

Previously unreported property in Gallatin County goes up by 14% while some neighbors increase by more than 40%

By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan

Governor Greg Gianforte speaks to the property tax task force on what he wants to see in a report later this year. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan)

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has been panned by residents, fellow Republicans and his political opponent for his decision to agree to a state budget that walloped most Montana residents with substantial increases in property taxes, while cutting rates for business.

That has led to notable acrimonious disagreements between the Republican-led administration and a cross-section of conservative county commissioners who say the governor hasn’t been truthful about how the state controls property taxes.

Several reports have detailed the multi-millionaire Gianforte’s properties, which have seemed to be taxed less severely than his neighbors.

However, a review of Gianforte’s financial holdings and disclosures shows another Gallatin County property that the governor owns has seen a lesser percentage of property tax growth than his neighbors. That property, located on McIlhattan Road, has previously not been included in reporting about the Gianforte properties.

The Montana Legislature ultimately sets the tax rates, which then are collected and controlled through county tax assessors and the Department of Revenue, which falls under the purview of the governor.

Gianforte signed into law the budget that included those property tax increases as well as a system in which property owners could receive as much as $675 per year in a rebate. However, that system has been criticized because of a cumbersome application, which includes needing a “geocode” with more than a dozen numbers in order to submit it.

The Daily Montanan reached out to Gianforte’s office for comment. The office did not respond.

The previously unreported property, located at 3073 McIlhattan Road, saw an 14.7% increase in property taxes, while the surrounding property owners experienced rates between 22.7% and 40.7%, according to public tax records available through the state.

The property is owned under Gianforte-controlled East Gallatin, LLC. That same company made news nearly a decade ago due to a dispute Gianforte had with the state for a property easement. Furthermore, the property had also been considered a likely parcel for a housing subdivision, according to the Great Falls Tribune. In May, Bozeman-based attorney Hertha Lund became the registered agent for East Gallatin, LLC., instead of First Lady Susan Gianforte. Registered agents are commonly designated by the corporations to receive and file any legal documents on behalf of the owners.

This isn’t the first time Gianforte’s tax rates have been the subject of news stories. MTN News reported that Gianforte’s Helena residence saw a decrease of nearly 7% while other property owners in the same neighborhood showed an increase. MTN reported that most of the other properties in the neighborhood saw rates increase from 11% to 40% in Helena. Meanwhile, the Montana Department of Revenue assessed his home in the mansion district for $770,000 but was listed on the market for $2 million.

That same reporting from MTN also showed Gianforte’s Gallatin County neighbors were upset because Gianforte and his wife, Montana First Lady Susan Gianforte, used an agricultural exemption to help lower taxes, saying the land on which their Bozeman residence sits rotates between irrigated barley and alfalfa as well as boarding horses and mules. However, because the property was just 11 acres, below the 20-acre minimum needed for the agricultural exemption, the Gianfortes had to testify that it produces at least $1,500 of product that “can be consumed by people or livestock.”

The property owned by the Gianfortes at 3073 McIlhattan Road is listed as 145 acres of agricultural and residential property. The average amount of property tax increase of the surrounding properties was 31.6%.