Route Fifty: Gianforte’s “So-Called Miracle” Isn’t Making Making Housing AffordableLatest News Year in Review

Route Fifty: Gianforte's "So-Called Miracle" Isn't Making Making Housing Affordable

Democratic candidate for governor Ryan Busse: "The Montana Miracle is not much of a miracle, Housing prices are still going up, and much of what [Gianforte] did flies in the face of the idea of local control."

A new report from Route Fifty reveals how Montana Governor Greg Gianforte's "Montana Miracle" has failed to bring down housing costs or skyrocketing property taxes, after a "national real estate group just ranked Montana as the least affordable state in the country for housing."

Busse noted, "the previous four governors-Democrats and Republicans-lowered residential property tax rates when it looked like they would disproportionately harm homeowners, but Gianforte did not" and actually "fought efforts by counties to lower the residential property taxes they collected on behalf of the state."

Read more from Route Fifty on how Greg Gianforte's Montana Miracle hasn't materialized for hardworking Montanans:

• A national real estate group just ranked Montana as the least affordable state in the country for housing, even ahead of states like California and Hawaii. Montana has seen one of the biggest increases in homelessness in the country. Gianforte has even talked about people living full-time in RVs on the street outside his Bozeman home. And rapidly increasing home prices has led to rapidly rising property tax bills, something Democrats say Gianforte could have prevented.

• "The property tax thing is very, very illustrative of his disconnect from everyday people," Busse said. "If he was really concerned about housing, he wouldn't jack up property taxes on every Montana homeowner."

• The previous four governors-Democrats and Republicans-lowered residential property tax rates when it looked like they would disproportionately harm homeowners, but Gianforte did not, Busse noted. He let the rates go up and instead cut income taxes for the highest earners. "If you don't [lower residential property taxes], it gives big, centrally assessed corporations a big tax cut, because their portion of the tax burden goes down, and the homeowners' portion of the tax burden goes way up," he said. "It's not just an affordability thing, it's a fairness thing."

• Meanwhile, Gianforte successfully fought efforts by counties to lower the residential property taxes they collected on behalf of the state.

• The housing shortage "has become a significant challenge for economic growth in the state, affecting not only our ability to recruit new businesses to the state, but also affecting legacy businesses that have been in the state for years and their ability to retain local talent," [Montana Chamber of Commerce CEO & President Todd O'Hair] said.

• The lack of available housing has also made it harder to construct new housing because construction workers can't afford to live near their work sites.

• Jacob Kuntz, the executive director of the Helena Area Habitat for Humanity, was one of those people struck by the sudden change in housing availability. When Gianforte started a "Come Home Montana" campaign in 2022 to entice people who had lived in Montana to return home, it struck a nerve with him. The Habitat for Humanity chapter ran a full-page ad in a local newspaper with the message, "They can't come home." The problem, of course, was that housing was too expensive and there wasn't enough.

• One of the most visceral impacts of the rising housing prices in Montana, which is felt even by people who already own a home, is the corresponding increase in property taxes.

• The state revenue department warned the legislature in November 2022 that rising home prices would lead to a major property tax increase. Its analysts told lawmakers that to keep the balance of revenue coming from residential, commercial and agricultural properties the same, they would have to cut the residential property tax rate from 1.35% to 0.94%. The Republican-led legislature did not change the rate, but at the same time, they cut income taxes for the highest earners. Property tax owners could get a rebate, but only if they applied for relief in what Democrats say is a cumbersome process.

• Not only has the state blocked counties from lowering property taxes, [Republican Fergus County Commissioner Ross Butcher] said, but has shifted responsibility for basic services to local governments while the state runs a surplus.

• "The last biennium, they had almost a $2 billion surplus in the state general fund, which is due to higher revenues from income tax than was anticipated," he said. "That tells me we're overtaxing the income side of it, while most local governments are struggling to meet the demand of a lot of services that are being pushed to the local government like mental health services."

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