Trego's Mountain Ear

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that 49 of Montana’s 56 counties didn’t levy high enough school taxes this year. Lincoln County is part of the 49 – so I’m guessing that they’ll have to be demanding more in the second tax payment. The state wanted 95 mills, but the 49 counties levied 77.9 mills – so my guess is that particular levy is going to increase by 17.1 mills come Spring.

Glancing at my tax bill, the school levies total 173.460 – so a 17.1 mill increase will increase the tax bill by awfully close to ten percent. Since the payment date on the first installment is the end of the month, I’m guessing that the County Treasurer is going to be getting it all in the second installment. Fortunately, the tax bill separates the school levies – they’re in the upper right hand corner – so you can calculate how much extra you’re going to owe. Just take ten percent of the total school levy, add it in, and you’ll be close enough for all practical purposes. For me, it’s somewhere around $90 . . . your costs will differ.

As I look at the tax bill, a short half of my tax bill is school taxes – somewhere around $900 this year. I’m guessing that raising the tax bill for school equalization funding will make it harder to pass special levies or bonds for new buildings.

I think back to those days between the tunnel, the railroad relocation, and Montana’s new constitution. In 1966, the miles of transcontinental railroad in the Trego school district increased greatly – I recall the school board calculating that, because there were so many miles of railroad in the tax base, Trego would be a rich district no matter what. The new constitution changed the terms, and Bozeman attorney James Goetz took the case to the state supreme court. When the legal dust had settled, equalization occurred, and Trego (and the high school district 13) were equalized down in terms of tax receipts.

Equalization is probably a good thing – but in those days between railroad relocation and constitutionally mandated equalization, taxes raised in school districts 13 and 53 went to the local schools instead of Helena for redistribution.