Hill County Commission votes to amend school levy

The Hill County Commission voted Thursday to amend their public school levy from 95 mills to 77.9 mills, bucking Gov. Greg Gianforte’s Department of Revenue, which directed the counties to collect the full 95 mills in an apparent break with tradition for Hill County.

For many years the county has collected 95 mills for the state’s school equalization efforts, which supports schools in lower income areas, but a spike in property valuations has caused the value of those mills to rise dramatically.

Counties across the state, including Hill County, have argued that the dramatic increase is unsustainable for their citizens and violates state law, which places limits on how quickly local taxes can rise.

The Gianforte administration, as well as a number of education groups, have disputed the counties’ interpretation of the law and have argued that this amendment, being adopted by counties across Montana, would result in an $80 million deficit for school equalization.

At Thursday’s meeting, members of the Hill County Commission, which voted unanimously for the amendment, said that because schools are funded primarily through the state’s general fund and the money for the schools is already obligated this amendment will have no impact on the funding of local schools.

Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown said it is her understanding that the state is also obligated to give the schools their equalization payments already as well, so the funding for the schools shouldn’t change at all.

Brown also said that, the language the state uses when informing the county how much they are permitted to levy, has been that they “may” levy up to a certain amount, but that permission has become a demand this year.

Havre Public School Superintendent Brian Gum and Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees Chair Tim Scheele told commissioners at that meeting that the legal analysis from the schools doesn’t match.

Gum said given the lack of agreement in the legal analysis from the schools vs. the counties he thinks the commission should stay the course with the 95 mills until the issue becomes more clear.

Scheele said school funding in Montana is incredibly complex and only a handful of people truly understand the totality of the system, and the implications of this conflict between the counties and state, and its effects on the schools remains unclear.

They said they started school this year fully staffed, for the first time in many years, and they don’t want a situation where people feel unsupported by the county and reconsider their commitments to the district.

“I’d hate for those people to feel not supported in their county, and say ‘Well, maybe this isn’t the right move for us, maybe we should look elsewhere,’” Gum said.

All three commissioners said they wanted to make it clear that they are not looking to antagonize the schools, which have their full support, but the state has put them in a difficult situation.

Peterson said he specifically wants to make it clear that this 95 mills is not the county raising taxes, but the state levying taxes through the counties.

“The county is not raising taxes,” he said. “The county gains no benefit from this.”

Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel said he’s been involved with the schools for a long time, and understands where they are coming from.

He said the state has effectively pitted the two against each other and his frustration is with the state, not the schools.

Hill County Commissioner Sheri Williams said she believes the amount of money the schools have is adequate to stay stable and she believes that the county needs to look out for taxpayers, who are in dire need.

“They need it to live,” Williams said. “ … Money should not be taken out of their pockets to sit in a surplus.”

Commissioners, as well as Brown, said that if taxpayers think their valuations and taxes are unreasonable then everyone would have to separately file protests, which is costly and time-consuming for both them and the government.

However, if they amend the mills and the state sues them, even if the state wins, it will collectively result in less time and money spent.

Gum and Scheele said they want to make clear from their side that they don’t believe that the county is trying to harm them at all, and they understand the county’s reasoning, but a potential lawsuit like that only adds another level of uncertainty to the whole affair.

Scheele asked the commission why they had to make this decision so quickly, and why they couldn’t give the matter some more time so their respective legal counsels could get more clarity on the issue.

Brown and Hill County Clerk and Recorder Lexis Dockter said the county didn’t get the certified values from the state until well into September and Brown said the deadline for sending out tax bills has already arrived, which is why this seems rushed.

Scheele thanked them for the information and said it does seem like the commission is in a tight spot in terms of timeline, but that doesn’t change the circumstances the schools find themselves in.

Before voting on the amendment, Peterson said he wanted to thank everyone who wrote to them on this subject, people who, whatever their perspective, took the time to understand the issue as best they could and provided thoughtful responses.

The commission unanimously voted in favor of the amendment.

During the meeting the commission also adopted new boundary lines for county commissioner districts, in accordance with recent surveys that showed population shifts between the three districts.

Dockter said the districts have to be roughly equal in size and in the last survey the population differences have become too large so they needed to make some slight adjustments.

She said commissioners are voted for at-large, so this change will not affect who can vote for who, just who can run for each district.

The new map was approved unanimously.

The board also announced that it is calling for applicants to the Hill County Park Board Grazing Committee.

Hill County Park Board member Lou Hagener, who attended as a member of the public, said he wanted to encourage the commission to consider their appointments carefully, and avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety.

The commission also voted to rescind their Stage 1 fire restrictions, which have prevented campfires on Beaver Creek Park since the end of July.

Strissel said fire conditions have calmed and he thinks it’s reasonable to lift the restrictions, which Peterson agreed with.

Strissel asked Hagener his opinion on the subject.

Hagener, a retired rangeland management specialist, said he can’t speak for the board, but based on his observations rescinding the restrictions should be fine for now.

However, he said, historically, some of the worst fires in Hill and Blaine counties have started late into October, and he cautioned the commission to be ready to quickly adapt if conditions change.

Williams said she wanted to hear the opinion of the county’s Fire Warden Amanda Frickel.

Frickel said based on what she sees she thinks rescinding the restrictions is fine.

Williams said that’s good enough for her and the commission voted unanimously to lift the restrictions.