As 2025 closes out, Montana Free Press reporters are reflecting on the work they’ve done over the course of the year — and what they expect to be writing about heading into 2026.
Looking back at the headlines that have adorned my stories this year, there’s a common refrain: Property taxes.
To recap (not that you need it if you’ve been following along): The traditionally eye-glazing topic of tax policy has ended up one of Montana’s hottest-button issues in recent years, ever since the extraordinary home value growth in most parts of the state through the COVID-19 pandemic knocked the property tax system silly.
When the state Legislature met this year, lawmakers took a big swing of their own at wrenching the system back into some sort of politically palatable alignment, scaling back taxes on middle- and lower-value residences by, in part, boosting them for many high-value homes and large industrial properties. This year’s legislation also tees up another shift for 2026 tax bills, levying higher taxes on residential properties that aren’t being used as resident housing at least seven months a year.
Following the tempest-level legislative politics that swirled around the tax measure occupied much of my winter. The proposal, developed by House Appropriations Chair Llew Jones, R-Conrad, and backed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, ran into so much opposition from hardline Republicans that its backers were forced to negotiate with minority Democrats for the votes necessary to bring it through the gale.
I then spent much of the remainder of the year trying, on the one hand, to explain how the measure is supposed to work and, on the other, trying to suss out whether its initial 2025 phase worked as intended. On the explanation front, I tried everything from a written Q&A to an illustrated in-depth guide and, as a Hail Mary of sorts, filming an Instagram video where I tried to explain things in terms that would outlast my dog’s attention span.
Along the way, I took a few detours — among them investigating a fancy mansion loophole in the state’s agricultural tax code, writing about the Montana Chamber of Commerce’s latest push for a statewide sales tax, and chipping in with other coverage like Helena’s mayoral election. I also discovered this month that Gianforte, who is constitutionally required to “reside” in Helena while serving as governor, has claimed a homestead exemption under his new tax law on his longtime home in Bozeman.
WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON IN 2026?
Heading into 2026, I’ll be keeping an especially close eye on that sales tax conversation, an idea that’s long been championed by Montana’s business leaders and long perceived as a political non-starter by most state-level politicians. I’ll also be, of course, following how the full-fledged second-home tax piece of this year’s legislation translates into next year’s bills.
And then there’s always the news you can’t see coming from the present, which I’ll be writing about as well.
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