-- HB 107 would drastically impact local jurisdictions’ ability to levy funds for initiatives constituents support, including open space projects and public amenities, such as the library and regional park that Missoula County voters approved in recent years. Amenities like these will serve the public and support the local economy for years to come.
-- Even popular ballot issues would likely fail meet the two-thirds threshold required in this bill, which would hamstring the public’s efforts to improve their communities through voter-approved initiatives.
-- As currently worded, HB 107 would add significant costs to county election offices for printing and mailing ballots with mill levies on them. If ballots were required to list the tax impact to properties in $100,000 increments, this could add a second or even third page to what may otherwise be a one-page ballot. In Missoula County, this would add an additional $35,000 in taxpayer-funded costs to a countywide election.
-- Requiring the ballot language to list tax impact in $100,000 increments could also be overwhelming to voters and discourage them from participating in the democratic process. This would be especially burdensome for voters who use ADA equipment to vote, as staff would need to program the equipment to read a recording of each increments, which could be excessively long for one ballot issue.
-- Current MCA requires ballot language to reflect a proposed levy’s impact on $100,000 and $200,000 homes, which is intended to provide property owners with a benchmark to determine the impact on their own homes.
-- While this requirement could be updated to more accurately affect current home values in the state, requiring ballot language to include tax impact in $100,000 increments is excessive. In Missoula County, it would result in a ballot listing 67 separate increments for a countywide initiative. This calculation only gets more complicated when considering that some mill levies are held in specific jurisdictions within the county, not countywide.
Commissioner Vero testimony:
ReplyDelete-- Missoula County opposes HB 107.
-- HB 107 would drastically impact local jurisdictions’ ability to levy funds for initiatives constituents support, including open space projects and public amenities, such as the library and regional park that Missoula County voters approved in recent years. Amenities like these will serve the public and support the local economy for years to come.
-- Even popular ballot issues would likely fail meet the two-thirds threshold required in this bill, which would hamstring the public’s efforts to improve their communities through voter-approved initiatives.
-- As currently worded, HB 107 would add significant costs to county election offices for printing and mailing ballots with mill levies on them. If ballots were required to list the tax impact to properties in $100,000 increments, this could add a second or even third page to what may otherwise be a one-page ballot. In Missoula County, this would add an additional $35,000 in taxpayer-funded costs to a countywide election.
-- Requiring the ballot language to list tax impact in $100,000 increments could also be overwhelming to voters and discourage them from participating in the democratic process. This would be especially burdensome for voters who use ADA equipment to vote, as staff would need to program the equipment to read a recording of each increments, which could be excessively long for one ballot issue.
-- Current MCA requires ballot language to reflect a proposed levy’s impact on $100,000 and $200,000 homes, which is intended to provide property owners with a benchmark to determine the impact on their own homes.
-- While this requirement could be updated to more accurately affect current home values in the state, requiring ballot language to include tax impact in $100,000 increments is excessive. In Missoula County, it would result in a ballot listing 67 separate increments for a countywide initiative. This calculation only gets more complicated when considering that some mill levies are held in specific jurisdictions within the county, not countywide.