When the Gallatin County Commission met to finalize the results from the special purpose district and school election, it confirmed what we already knew: Local taxpayers have had enough.

School districts asked voters for money in 13 levies in the May 7 election. The asks ranged from general fund requests to building levies in the Belgrade and Monforton school districts. People rejected all but five of those requests. Two were general fund levies in Bozeman, which hasn’t balked at a levy request in 41 years. One was in Big Sky, which asked for a modest amount to teacher pay. The other two — in West Yellowstone and Cottonwood School District — passed by narrow margins. Just 14 votes made the difference for Cottonwood.

It’s no mystery why taxpayers are in revolt. Residential property taxes for most people in Gallatin County went up by anywhere from 21% to 39%. Property values spiked during the pandemic. The Department of Revenue alerted lawmakers before the 2023 legislative session that the homeowner property tax rate needed to be lowered from 1.35% to 0.94% to avoid sticker shock after the statewide biannual property reappraisal.