Montana bill would tie property-tax relief to income; renters included

Representative Jonathan Karlen formally introduced House Bill 154 on behalf of House District 98 in Missoula County, proposing an income-tax credit designed to prevent property-tax burdens from exceeding an ‘‘affordable portion’’ of household income. ‘‘The bill I have before you today, House Bill 154, ensures that constituents don't pay a property tax bill or don't face a property tax burden that exceeds an affordable portion of their income,’’ Karlen said.

Karlen described the bill as a sliding-scale ‘‘circuit breaker’’ that calculates a cap on property-tax liability as a percentage of income and then issues an income-tax credit to make up the difference. He gave a concrete example from a handout: a household with $80,000 in income and a $4,500 property-tax bill would face a cap of roughly 3.1% of income (about $2,500); using the bill’s 0.75 multiplier the…