State to issue reappraisals to Browning next week, leaders want answers (2024)

The Montana Department of Revenue plans to mail revised property appraisal notices to hundreds of Browning residents next week, after admitting to an error that caused many to overpay their property taxes.

Located east of Glacier National Park, Browning serves as headquarters for the Blackfeet Reservation and is home to a little more than 1,000 people.

After Lee Montana uncovered unusually high appraisal values and property tax bills in Browning, the state Department of Revenue announced a computer erroraffected 350 properties in the area. Some properties in Browning saw 500% increases in appraisal values, and some residents saw their property tax bill increase fourfold.

Glacier County Commissioner Mary Jo Bremner said while she’s relieved the error will be remedied, the mistake was stilldebilitatingin Browning, where 40% of residents live in poverty and where many are on fixed or limited incomes.

Some people had to cut back on groceries to pay their property tax bills by the May 31 deadline. Some said they'd be late on other important payments. One grandmother wondered if she'd have to return to work.

Bremner said given the processes involved, she thinks it's unlikely that refunds will hit people's bank accounts this month.

“But this is the month people are hurting," she said. "This is the month people are going without food."

Distrust

The department told Lee Montana on Wednesday that it expects to mail revised assessments by Friday, June 14.

Residents will have30 days from the date on the notice to appeal their new values, if they choose to do so.

After it’s determined how much each property owner overpaid, the Glacier County Treasurer’s Office will issue refunds. The Revenue Department said it expects to have all documentation to the Treasurer's Office by June 21.

County Treasurer Don Wilson said his office “will get the money out quickly.”

“It won’t take long once we have those amounts (from the state),” he said.

Wilson said he expects his staff will work overtime and possibly on weekends to help remedy the state’s error.

When asked if the Department of Revenue has been communicating with his office about the reappraisal process, Wilson laughed.

“There’s a huge amount of distrust with the state,” he said. “And unfortunately, this just sort of puts a little icing on the cake. … It’s sad because it shouldn’t be that way.”

What caused this error?

A State Department of Revenue spokesperson said last week that the error occurred because “the land values for properties within the town of Browning were pointed to the wrong 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 Revenue Department spokesperson said that order did not contribute to the appraisal error.

A spokesperson said the department has put “safeguards” in place, so errors like this will be discovered prior to sending out appraisal notices in the future. Specifically, the department said it will conduct "a thorough review of individual property value chances between reappraisal cycles."

While this process was implemented in many areas across the state, the Revenue Department said it "is now standard practice for all areas."

"A review of this nature would have identified the large increases in land values for this neighborhood, allowing the issue to be addressed earlier," a spokesperson said.

County Commissioner Vernon "Napi" Billedeaux said the state owes residents answers.

"To say, 'My bad' and move on?" he said. "No. this was a big event in people's lives. A lot of people were afraid, and we don't have any answers. We need the people who did this to explain what happened."

When asked if the department plans to hold any meetings about the mistakes made in Browning, a spokesperson said, "this hasn't been decided."

Dan Bucks, who ran the state Department of Revenue under Democratic governors from 2005 to 2013, said while the department admitted to a mistake in Browning, it remains unclear whether errors were made elsewhere.

“It may be premature to jump to this, but one of my reactions (to the Browning situation) is to say, there needs to be an audit of the entire computer system,” he said. “This was such a big reappraisal. … Is it time for there to be an outside look?”