HELENA — Six months after a statewide task force held its first meetings to discuss possible long-term changes to Montana’s property tax system, it has put forward a series of 12 recommendations that could be debated in the Montana Legislature next year.

Gov. Greg Gianforte announced plans to convene a task force last December and issued an executive order in January establishing the Governor’s Property Tax Task Force. The task force presented its final report to Gianforte Thursday morning at the Montana State Capitol.

One of the key proposals would be to introduce “homestead and comstead exemptions” — an increase in property tax rates for residential and commercial properties, but lower rates for primary residences, long-term rentals and smaller commercial properties. Proponents said this would shift the tax burden to second homes — including those owned by out-of-state residents — as well as short-term rentals and larger taxpayers.

Republican Rep. Llew Jones of Conrad led the subcommittee that drafted the recommendation. He said initial estimates suggest the proposal could reduce property taxes for 215,000 homes and 32,000 small businesses in Montana and indirectly benefit 130,000 renters.

“It will be self-funding to a large extent by having many of the people who don’t pay income taxes in Montana participate in providing some of the services they use,” he said.

Rep. David Bedey (R-Hamilton) chaired a subcommittee on property taxes and their impact on school districts. One of their key recommendations is to set education property taxes – the mandatory minimum levies currently set at the county level – at the same level for all districts in a county. Bedey said this would equalize property taxes within a county and shift some of the burden from low-tax-value districts to higher-tax-value districts.

“This is once again a major step forward in terms of equity, because it allows us to fulfill our constitutional mandate to provide this basic education to our students and to distribute the tax burden fairly,” he said.

Eight of the recommendations came from the third and final subcommittee, which focused on local governments, which receive the majority of property tax revenue. The proposals include several changes to the ballot mill levies: levies must receive 60% of the vote to pass, voters must reapprove levies after 10 years, and governments cannot charge a fixed dollar amount more than a certain number of mills.

“It will not provide a huge windfall and will keep property taxes more stable for voters and taxpayers across the state of Montana,” said Senator Greg Hertz (R-Polson), who chaired the subcommittee on local government.

That meeting came on the same day the state began accepting applications for the second round of property tax refunds. Homeowners can claim up to $675 for their primary residence.

Gianforte and other state politicians noted that the rebate was a short-term response to rising home prices and property taxes in Montana and that the task force’s work was a longer-term response.

“These are innovative tools, and we can use them to combat rising property taxes – we have to use them. The people of Montana are really counting on us,” Gianforte said.

When the task force unveiled its recommendations, House Democrats released a statement saying they would benefit wealthy Montanans rather than ordinary Montanans. They unveiled their own plan last month and criticized the task force’s proposals for not directly targeting low- and middle-income residents or renters.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse also held a news conference Thursday to unveil his own plan to address property taxes. He said the simplest solution would be to cut property taxes so that the taxable value on which homeowners pay taxes returns to the level before property values ​​rose. Busse said the task force’s plan is complicated and would not provide immediate relief.