(With taxes, most people prefer “less.”)To determine your residential property taxes, you’ll now need a compass, protractor, sextant and slide rule to connect the dots to decipher what lawmakers did. Montanans expressed outrage, and county commissioners sued Gianforte over a state tax hike as he tried to blame elected county officials for raising state property taxes. The new law, meanwhile, creates a tiered tax-rate system for residential property that generally will result in urban homeowners in high-growth areas paying more property taxes in coming years. The 2023 property tax hike socked homeowners while big corporations, railroads and utilities got tax breaks. It’s time for legislators to overhaul this complicated property tax system, bring it into the 21st century, and provide real tax relief to Montana homeowners.