The Governor’s $400 property tax refund

Some Montanans will soon be able to get their $400 property tax refund. There are a number of hoops to jump through, but for $400 it may well be worth it.

It is being called, “The Governor’s $400 property tax refund” on the state’s homepage. I was shocked that the Governor had been paying my property taxes. Thanks man.

But, it sure is nice that our elected folks in the state gave us this refund. There were a lot of arguments about refunding some of the surplus and this was the amount that was finally agreed upon.

It seems some of the Republicans were against this as they wanted to give us more. I would like more since there was a surplus, but you can’t always get what you want.

One of the things I will look for in my state house and senate candidates in the next election is if they are willing to give me more refunds when there are surpluses instead of spending it on stupid programs.

The Appropriations to MSU

Montana State University is proudly reporting that they topped $100 million in research funding for their 2007 fiscal year. Good for them. The research funding was about a million less than their fiscal year 2006 funding.

I predict that the appropriations going to MSU for FY 2008 will be less than in the past. None of the Appropriations bills for FY 08 have been signed into law yet and we all know the new Democrat majority in Congress wants earmark reform. Some Democrats said they wanted to do away with earmarks altogether. The Democrats seem to want earmark reform for Republican earmarks. Of course, Reid, Pelosi, Obey, and Murtha have staked their claims to millions of dollars.

As you may remember, FY 2007 earmarks were halted because of the 2006 election with both sides of the aisle not wanting to give the other side any ammunition for the 2006 elections. Some money was lost and many elected officials found themselves having to beg the federal agencies for the money.