Montana’s real estate bonanza turns political as property taxes soar

The pastoral expanse that Art Mangels has called home for 10 years comes with views of snowy peaks, banks on the trout-rich Big Hole River and acres of grasslands traversed by bears, moose and muskrats.
 

These days, it also comes with a property tax bill 35 percent higher than in 2022.

The spike is one effect of a western Montana pandemic real estate boom that has transformed Bozeman, two hours away, into what Mangels calls “Bozeangeles,” and is reverberating here in Beaverhead County, where cows far outnumber people. The ripples are threatening to cross from personal into political. Like other longtime residents, Mangels has soured on the state’s crimson-red legislature and governor.