(Havre) – Montana State Senator Brad Molnar and Former Senator Matthew Monforton have recently filed a class action lawsuit against the Montana Department of Revenue. Senator Brad Molnar explains what the lawsuit is about.
“The Department of Revenue sent out a letter of confirmation to the counties that they had to collect the full 95 mil of the 95 mil that is used to fund school education. The problem is that they also admit that with the caps on that you don’t get 95 mils, and with the caps it comes put to about 78 mils and that depending on when you pick the time to estimate the returns that’s anywhere from $80 million to $100 million. And the department of Revenue is claiming they have the right to take unused mils from prior year and apply those and collect that $100 million. No wherein statute do they have that authority and so we are trying to hold the department to the standards of not only do you not have clerical you do not have any authority.”
He continues by talking about what will happen is he wins or loses the lawsuit.
“If I succeed in winning the case, and when I say ‘I’ I mean my attorney Matthew Monforton will be the one that wins the case, then the $100 million dollars will stay in the pockets of Montana taxpayers. If we lose the case, it just goes to the general fund it doesn’t affect school funding at all. There is nothing in the law or the agreement with the courts that we would use property tax money to fund that. as a matter of fact, the 95 mil whatever that is valued at goes straight to the general fund and then they take that and half a billion dollars in more general fund money for this purpose. Its all-general fund any way it’s simply collected on property.”
He goes on by explaining what a mil is.
“A mil is a hypothetical, its one real dollar of your money compared to a thousand of hypothetical dollars based on an estimate of the value, in this case, of your home or your business. The caps on this which the state must live under is they can collect one half of the inflation for the last 3 years plus new valuations. That’s it, that’s their cap they can’t go back in and say, ‘well four years ago we could’ve spent a hundred mil but we couldn’t because were 95 so were going to charge you 5 more mil’.”
He finishes by talking about what people should know about the lawsuit.
“Well, it’s been filed there’s a court stamp on it and it basically says what I’m saying which not only does the state not have inclusive authority to just raise taxes they based on years ago they do not have any authority. They don’t have any authority. They don’t have explicit; they don’t have implicit they are making it up. When the director of the department of revenue says the statute is confusing so were just going to take your money it’s a red flag. It is a red flag. Your government is not respecting you; you’re being governed you’re not being represented.”
