Montana keeping property owners, taxpayers in the dark

How much is your home worth? Are you being taxed too much (or too little) on it? How do you know?

Currently, taxpayers who suspect that the state’s valuation of their property is off-base have to make a formal appeal to the Montana Department of Revenue. Then, they must agree to sign an oath swearing not to share the information they are given – information which includes the sale prices of three or four similar properties. Only then are they provided with that information to begin making their own comparison.

That’s how it works under state law. But why? The current process is onerous and effectively keeps homeowners in the dark about real estate sales and market trends that directly affect the amount of taxes they must pay.

Montana Revenue Department Director Mike Kadas http://revenue.mt.gov/home/about.aspx#horizontalTab2 – whom Missoulians will remember as a former Missoula mayor – recently urged a legislative committee to get on board with the idea of making real estate sale prices part of the public record; he plans to ask the 2015 Legislature to change the law to allow public disclosure of this information.

Missoulian Editorial

Full Editorial: http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/editorial/state-keeping-property-owners-taxpayers-in-the-dark/article_57623c5c-1733-11e4-91aa-001a4bcf887a.html