Committee hears paired proposals to reserve any statewide sales tax for education property-tax relief

Representative Brad Barker, sponsor of House Bills 841 and 842, told the House Taxation Committee that the proposals would constrain any future statewide sales tax so its revenue could be used only to reduce the property-tax mills that fund public education and the Montana University System.

"This is not a sales tax. It's a further restriction on sales tax," Barker said, adding the constitutional amendment in HB 841 would require voter approval and the statutory measure in HB 842 would ask voters whether the Legislature should be authorized to consider a sales tax not to exceed 4 percent, with a set of exemptions for basic necessities.

Proponents told the committee the pairing is a way to give Montana voters a mechanism to reduce property taxes that largely fund education. Bob Story of the Montana Taxpayers Association said a sales-tax revenue stream collected in retail centers could be spread statewide through the state’s education funding system. Lance Melton of the Montana School Boards Association said a capped sales tax could be calibrated to replace…