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Missoula County staff brief commissioners on several state bills, signal opposition to liability, tax and union-dues measures
Summary
County staff updated commissioners on House Bill 121, raised concerns about House Bill 425 (liability in police pursuits), warned of major revenue losses from a property tax-rate bill associated with Representative Trebis, and said the county would oppose Senate Bill 277, which would bar local governments from collecting and remitting union dues.
County staff provided a legislative update, highlighting four bills and explaining the county’s likely positions.
Staff said House Bill 121, described in the meeting as the “bathroom bill,” had passed second reading and was expected to complete its legislative process and go to the governor; staff declined to comment further on that bill during the meeting.
Staff identified House Bill 425 as a concern for Missoula County. The presenter described a provision that would shift liability onto local governments and law enforcement officers in some pursuit-related scenarios — for example, if an officer chasing a suspect results in the suspect committing a new crime against a private resident. Staff said that provision would in effect move liability from the person who committed the crime to the local government and its officers and that the county would oppose the bill.
The presenter also recounted a property-tax bill advanced by Representative Trebis that would change valuation rates across many property classes (moving many to roughly 1.5 percent and reducing residential from 1.35 to 1.25 percent). Staff cited a fiscal note estimate in the discussion that the state’s general fund would face about a $76,000,000 hit starting in fiscal year 2027 and roughly $200,000,000 cumulatively across the projections, and said Missoula County would oppose the bill because of the potential for substantial revenue loss.
On Senate Bill 277, staff said the bill would remove only local governments’ ability to collect union dues from payroll for remittance to unions. Staff argued this is a standard payroll practice across many employee-elected payroll deductions and noted the operational process is automated within payroll. The presenter said the bill would place the onus on union members to remit dues directly and described the change as “very much targeted at collective bargaining in the public sector.” Staff asked the board for permission to testify in opposition; a commissioner indicated willingness for staff to testify.
Staff said the county planned to coordinate with the Montana Association of Counties and other local governments on some of these bills and would continue to update commissioners as the session progresses.
