The Montana Department of Revenue plans to mail revised property assessment notices to hundreds of Browning residents next week, after admitting an error that caused many to overpay their property taxes.
Located east of Glacier National Park, Browning serves as the headquarters of the Blackfeet Reservation and is home to just over 1,000 people.
After Lee Montana discovered unusually high assessed values and property tax bills in Browning, the state Department of Revenue announced that a computer error affected 350 properties in the area. Some properties in Browning experienced 500% increases in assessed values, and some residents saw their property tax bill quadruple.
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Mary Jo Bremner, Glacier County Commissioner
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Glacier County Commissioner Mary Jo Bremner said that while she is relieved that the error was remedied, the mistake was still debilitating in Browning, where 40% of residents live in poverty and where many are on fixed incomes. or limited.
Some people had to cut back on purchases to pay their property taxes before the May 31 deadline. Some said they would be late on other important payments. One grandmother wondered if she would have to go back to work.
Bremner said that given the processes involved, he believes it is unlikely that refunds will reach people’s bank accounts this month.
“But this is the month when people are suffering,” he said. “This is the month when people run out of food.”
Property taxes skyrocket in Browning, leaving residents stumped
Distrust
The department told Lee Montana on Wednesday that it expects to mail revised evaluations by Friday, June 14.
Residents will have 30 days from the date of the notice to appeal their new values, if they wish.
Glacier County Courthouse – Cut Bank
Once it is determined how much each homeowner overpaid, the Glacier County Treasurer’s Office will issue refunds. The Department of Revenue said it hopes to have all the documentation in the Treasurer’s Office by June 21.
County Treasurer Don Wilson said his office will “get the money out quickly.”
“It won’t be long once we have those amounts (from the state),” he said.
Wilson said he expects his staff to work overtime and possibly weekends to help remedy the state’s mistake.
Browning residents to receive refund for error that raised property taxes
When asked if the Department of Revenue had contacted his office about the reassessment process, Wilson laughed.
“There is enormous distrust towards the State,” he said. “And unfortunately, this puts the icing on the cake. … It’s sad because it shouldn’t be like that.”
What caused this error?
A spokesperson for the state Department of Revenue said last week that the error occurred because “land values for properties within the city of Browning were pointing to the incorrect valuation table in our computer system.”
On Wednesday, the department confirmed that the computer error was caused by a “data entry issue.” While the tribe issued a cease and desist to state assessors in 2019 prohibiting them from entering the reservation without permission, a Department of Revenue spokesperson said that order did not contribute to the assessment error.
A spokesperson said the department has put “safeguards” in place, so errors like this will be discovered before assessment notices are sent out in the future. Specifically, the department said it will conduct “a thorough review of the value prospects of individual properties between reassessment cycles.”
While this process has been implemented in many areas of the state, the Department of Revenue said it is “now standard practice for all areas.”
“A review of this nature would have identified the large increases in land values in this neighborhood, allowing the issue to be addressed sooner,” a spokesperson said.
County Commissioner Vernon “Napi” Billedeaux said the state owes residents answers.
“Say ‘bad fault’ and move on?” he said. “No. This was a big event in people’s lives. A lot of people were scared and we don’t have any answers. We need the people who did this to explain what happened.”
Asked if the department plans to hold any meetings about the mistakes made at Browning, a spokesperson said, “This has not been decided.”
Dan Bucks, who led the state Department of Revenue under Democratic governors from 2005 to 2013, said that while the department admitted an error in Browning, it is unclear whether mistakes were made elsewhere.
“It may be premature to jump to this, but one of my reactions (to the Browning situation) is to say that there needs to be an audit of the entire computer system,” he said. “This was such a big re-evaluation. … Is it time for a look from the outside?
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