Right now, local governments across Montana are finalizing their budgets for the coming year and getting ready to send out property tax bills. They do that work based on data from the Montana Department of Revenue, which tells governments the total taxable value of all the properties within their jurisdiction.

This year, though, the city of Helena had some questions for the department about how they reached their numbers.

We're just trying to understand the data going forward so that we can make good budget estimates on our tax revenue, said Sheila Danielson, Helenas finance director.

(Watch the video for more on Helena's concerns about taxable values.)

State law sets how much a local government can raise in property taxes. Every year, theyre allowed to collect the same amount they did

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