Opinion: Vote for someone who actually understands property taxes

If there’s one thing most folks agree on, it’s that Montana’s property tax system is a complicated mess.

As one of the few states without a sales tax, Montana depends disproportionately on property taxes to fund basic services. Two years ago, the Legislature in Helena made some changes, which helped out some, but caused other, perhaps unintended consequences. One reason is that our citizen legislators simply don’t know the systems well enough to improve them.

But did you know that voters in Montana House District 13 have the opportunity to elect somebody who actually knows quite a bit about how property taxes work, and has ideas about how to make them fairer?

That person is Dalton Bradford, who works for the Department of Revenue as a property appraiser. That vantage point gives him insight into ways to fund government while minimizing the burden on working people.

It’s unlikely that his young opponent, not yet out of college, has ever paid property taxes.

Vote for competence in Helena. Vote for Dalton Bradford.

– Caryl Cox, Polson