(Letter Received By Montana Sentinel Team With Request To Remove Personal Info)

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Dear [Elected Representatives],

I am writing to express my deep frustration and disappointment regarding the massive increase in property taxes on our family cabin and the adjacent one acre of bare ground. For generations, owning a modest cabin has been a cornerstone of the Montana way of life. Like many local families, we have worked incredibly hard, playing by the rules and saving every spare dollar just to afford a small place outside of town where we can escape on weekends and holidays to spend quality time with our children and future grandchildren.

Unfortunately, under the current tax changes, our small slice of our Montana dream is being penalized. While I understand that recent legislation aimed to offer relief for primary homesteads, categorizing generational family cabins under the same flat, punitive tax rate as luxury second homes and out-of-state short-term rentals is deeply unfair to long-time residents! Our cabin is not a commercial investment or a luxury estate; it is a sanctuary for my family (especially my husband who is a Montana veteran), built and maintained with Montana wages.

The current influx of out-of-state buyers over the last few years has driven up property values and forced lifelong Montanans to bear the financial brunt of rapid development. If the state needs to adjust its revenue, the government should look at increasing taxes on people who have moved to Montana within the last five years, rather than pricing out families who have lived, worked, and paid taxes here for decades.

Working-class Montanans and retirees on fixed incomes should not be forced to sell their beloved family cabins just because they cannot keep up with skyrocketing assessments. Who do you think will buy them when we are all forced to sell?  The same rich out-of-staters who purchased property in MT in the last several years and drove up the property values to begin with.

It is also my understanding that under the recent legislation, there is to be relief for primary homesteads with a reduction in property taxes. According to the letter we received from MT DOR, it looks like ours is going up. Why is that? I am a fifth-generation Montanan living on our family ranch and hope to pass it down to our children someday, but with the ever-increasing taxes, they won’t be able to afford to live here, which is tragic for someone born and raised in Montana.

My hope is that you can help in implementing an exemption or a separate tier that protects long-time Montanans from being taxed out of their own heritage. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your consideration of this urgent matter.

[Montana Property Owner]

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Here’s who to call, after all, they said to just vote for the bill since they knew everything about it:

Governor Greg Gianforte (406) 444-3111
Rep Llew Jones – Conrad – (406) 289-0345
Rep Dave Bedey – Hamilton – (406) 381-2059
Rep Brad Barker – Red Lodge – (406) 426-1034
Sen Josh Kassmier Fort Benton – (406) 781-5386
Sen Denley Loge – Mineral County – (406) 544-5220

(Pictures in order below)