HELENA — Residents should have already received taxable value letters and property tax rebate postcards in the mail, but you may be wondering what these cards and letters mean.
Julie and David Early received their taxable value letter and said, "We just kind of did a jaw drop when we saw it in writing.”
The Early’s have called Montana home for decades and became homeowners three years ago.
Even in that short amount of time, they have seen many changes in their property value and taxes.
Early says, “The value of our house went up almost 200 thousand dollars from the last assessment, which is pretty significant.”
The Montana Department of Revenue has been mailing notices with updated tax assessments for properties over the past few weeks.
The notices account for changes lawmakers made during this year’s legislative session.
“It is just really uncomfortable and is like, where is this going to stop, and we just feel powerless," Early says.
The state reassesses property values every two years. In 2023, a spike in assessed values sparked widespread concern across the Treasure State, and this time is no different.
Early says, "The spike we have seen for this upcoming tax year is way too high."
The state offered property tax rebates to homeowners in 2023 and 2024.
Grace Jones is visiting Montana from California and was fascinated by the idea of tax rebates.
“I think offering rebates to current property owners for property taxes could help relieve the pressure for families," Jones says.
Property owners will again need to apply to receive this year’s rebate of up to four hundred dollars.
However, some Montanans say it doesn’t even make a dent.
“With the four-hundred-dollar rebate, we were like, what is the tax going to be, and then we saw what it is based on, and with the new evaluation of our house, it feels like a joke.”
The online portal to claim property tax rebates opens August 15 and will close on October 1. This year’s property tax bills will go out in October.
