Bozeman: is it really that bad anymore?

[Hem]

I like it, but @Ought Six isn't exaggerating much. We will give you a pass though because once upon a time you did call Eastern Montana home.

And I always thought Billings was the scourge.
6 is the new 3?

I always chuckle when Eastern Montana people ask me..." so where exactly is 43?"

 

[Ought Six]

View attachment 268514

Give me towns like Froid over Bozeman any day of the week

 

[antlerradar]

And I always thought Billings was the scourge.
6 is the new 3?

I always chuckle when Eastern Montana people ask me..." so where exactly is 43?"

So 1980's, your aging yourself.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Give me towns like Froid over Bozeman any day of the week

There’s some upsides. I’ll give you that.

A dozen years back a long time Froid friend came to Bozeman to visit. He was our neighbor and had recently lost his wife in a microburst of wind on the farm. I was taking him out in the town. Wanted to take him to 317 the nice Irish Pub but couldn’t help saying “Let’s stop in for one here”. Plonk.

Pat says - “Let me get this one” - so I stand back and just watched. He pushes his way up to the bar and gets the attention of the flamboyantly gayisian bartender (IYKYK). “I’ll take two Bud Lights!!!”

“We don’t serve Bud Light here.”

“What in the EF kind of place doesn’t have Bud Light”.

Probably had to be there - but one of the funniest moments I’ve seen in a Bozeman bar, with a life long Froid farmer who rarely ventured farther than to Fort Peck. He would absolutely HATE Bozeman now, as if he didn’t then.

 

[Hem]

So 1980's, your aging yourself.

It is, what it is.

 

[FREAK]

There’s some upsides. I’ll give you that.

A dozen years back a long time Froid friend came to Bozeman to visit. He was our neighbor and had recently lost his wife in a microburst of wind on the farm. I was taking him out in the town. Wanted to take him to 317 the nice Irish Pub but couldn’t help saying “Let’s stop in for one here”. Plonk.

Pat says - “Let me get this one” - so I stand back and just watched. He pushes his way up to the bar and gets the attention of the flamboyantly gayisian bartender (IYKYK). “I’ll take two Bud Lights!!!”

“We don’t serve Bud Light here.”

“What in the EF kind of place doesn’t have Bud Light”.

Probably had to be there - but one of the funniest moments I’ve seen in a Bozeman bar, with a life long Froid farmer who rarely ventured farther than to Fort Peck. He would absolutely HATE Bozeman now, as if he didn’t then.

Next time you're in the Plonk be sure to ask your waitress "Where is the Dutton Ranch brand?" on their wall of brands. It got our cute waitress all fired up:

...."Where are you visiting from, we actually only have real ranches on our wall"...she was a good sport after she realized I was messing with her.

 

[noharleyyet]

"Many of us would probably be better fishermen if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect"

 

[Straight Arrow]

There’s some upsides. I’ll give you that.

A dozen years back a long time Froid friend came to Bozeman to visit. He was our neighbor and had recently lost his wife in a microburst of wind on the farm. I was taking him out in the town. Wanted to take him to 317 the nice Irish Pub but couldn’t help saying “Let’s stop in for one here”. Plonk.

Pat says - “Let me get this one” - so I stand back and just watched. He pushes his way up to the bar and gets the attention of the flamboyantly gayisian bartender (IYKYK). “I’ll take two Bud Lights!!!”

“We don’t serve Bud Light here.”

“What in the EF kind of place doesn’t have Bud Light”.

Probably had to be there - but one of the funniest moments I’ve seen in a Bozeman bar, with a life long Froid farmer who rarely ventured farther than to Fort Peck. He would absolutely HATE Bozeman now, as if he didn’t then.

FYI, the guys who own PLONK now own the iconic historical cowboy waterin' hole, Stacey's Bar in downtown Gallatin Gateway. It just ain't the same anymore! No more cowboys riding through the front door and there's a huge multi-story add-on building connected on the west side. No place to park in Gateway. "Times are-a changin'!"

 

[The Hedgehog]

FYI, the guys who own PLONK now own the iconic historical cowboy waterin' hole, Stacey's Bar in downtown Gallatin Gateway. It just ain't the same anymore! No more cowboys riding through the front door and there's a huge multi-story add-on building connected on the west side. No place to park in Gateway. "Times are-a changin'!"

Might not be a bad thing. I’ve always liked Stacy’s. I’m no Plonk regular for sure - but there are some positives to that place… Although not cheap, you will not find better cocktails in MT, the people watching is great, and you are assured to not run into Shrapnel.

 

[Big Fin]

I take all of this as good humor. No doubt the huge changes in Bozeman and Gallatin County give some basis for deserved ridicule.

But, before rural Montanans get to down in the mouth on Bozeman and license plates with a 6, you might want to send us some Thank You cards when it comes time to pay property taxes and when your local school board tries to balance their budget. I'll explain below.

We have this thing in Montana called "State School Equalization." It is where every piece of property is assessed its proportionate share of mill levy, based on assessed values, for taxes that go to the Montana General Fund for purposes of "equalizing" school funding. A lot of smaller/rural school districts have their most valuable properties covered by the famous "ag exemption." Thus, they end up with very little tax receipts for school funding. Without the equalization payments coming their way, the per pupil spending in those smaller and rural districts would be very unbalanced compared to a place like Bozeman, where a school levy has never failed in my 32 years here.

Since Gallatin County schools are funded at a much higher rate than smaller/rural schools, we are a net payer to the Equalization effort. And since our property values have increased so much, our proportionate "millage" gets higher every year. That's to the benefit of small/rural districts who receive the majority of these Equalization payments from places like Gallatin County.

So, for this exercise, I calculated what I paid last year in the form of Equalization payments on properties I own. I paid $5,220.42, in these "School Equalization" taxes. That is about 45% of the amount that I paid to my local school district in taxes. That money gets distributed to the schools that are below the spending levels of say, Gallatin School Districts. For me, that equals $435 per month that I pay to benefit these smaller/rural districts in counties who won't/don't increase property taxes on their own local properties to fund their schools at higher levels.

Multiply that by every Gallatin County property owner, both residential and commercial, and just know those assholes with "6" license plates are helping fund a lot of your school district. And as someone who feels education funding should be a high priority for any society, no matter the financial resources of the child receiving that education, the $435 I get taxed each month for schools far away from where I live is some of the best investment I make, even if it is not voluntary.

That said, it is a good distraction to read this stuff and see the opinions expressed, the humor interjected, and the offenses taken.

 

[Knight.54]

The end of hunting season is always nice when all those 6 license plates full of Bozifornians finally leave our eastern Montana paradise and head back to their nice amenities, ‘best’ large and crowded public schools, expensive ski hills, fancy restaurants, good medical facilities, piles of transplant ‘residents’, extremely overpriced housing, crowded blue ribbon trout streams, and busy new development. Hopefully they got enough content for their Instagrams, YouTube pages, and facebooks to get them through a few months before they make the trip east again. The growth in popularity of Turkey and shed hunting combined with trail cameras for scouting deer and elk year round though have really decreased that brief serenity we used to get, and it seems like there is always a 6 plate around anymore. It’s too bad they ruined the hunting and fishing around their own town and have to come east to ruin it there too…

I thought the non residents ruined everything?

 

[Ought Six]

I take all of this as good humor. No doubt the huge changes in Bozeman and Gallatin County give some basis for deserved ridicule.

But, before rural Montanans get to down in the mouth on Bozeman and license plates with a 6, you might want to send us some Thank You cards when it comes time to pay property taxes and when your local school board tries to balance their budget. I'll explain below.

We have this thing in Montana called "State School Equalization." It is where every piece of property is assessed its proportionate share of mill levy, based on assessed values, for taxes that go to the Montana General Fund for purposes of "equalizing" school funding. A lot of smaller/rural school districts have their most valuable properties covered by the famous "ag exemption." Thus, they end up with very little tax receipts for school funding. Without the equalization payments coming their way, the per pupil spending in those smaller and rural districts would be very unbalanced compared to a place like Bozeman, where a school levy has never failed in my 32 years here.

Since Gallatin County schools are funded at a much higher rate than smaller/rural schools, we are a net payer to the Equalization effort. And since our property values have increased so much, our proportionate "millage" gets higher every year. That's to the benefit of small/rural districts who receive the majority of these Equalization payments from places like Gallatin County.

So, for this exercise, I calculated what I paid last year in the form of Equalization payments on properties I own. I paid $5,220.42, in these "School Equalization" taxes. That is about 45% of the amount that I paid to my local school district in taxes. That money gets distributed to the schools that are below the spending levels of say, Gallatin School Districts. For me, that equals $435 per month that I pay to benefit these smaller/rural districts in counties who won't/don't increase property taxes on their own local properties to fund their schools at higher levels.

Multiply that by every Gallatin County property owner, both residential and commercial, and just know those assholes with "6" license plates are helping fund a lot of your school district. And as someone who feels education funding should be a high priority for any society, no matter the financial resources of the child receiving that education, the $435 I get taxed each month for schools far away from where I live is some of the best investment I make, even if it is not voluntary.

That said, it is a good distraction to read this stuff and see the opinions expressed, the humor interjected, and the offenses taken.

Thank you for that information @Big Fin. Point well taken, and I learned something new today.

It is all in good fun. I have a lot of good friends from Bozeman, and love to give them crap. I make it over there every once in a while to spend my hard earned money on some over priced food and drink and take in a good ol Cats game..

 

[mtmiller]

But, before rural Montanans get to down in the mouth on Bozeman and license plates with a 6, you might want to send us some Thank You cards

Still not welcome.

 

[DFS]

Next time I see the bozo boys blowing elk to the next precinct I will be sure to thank them for our school systems!

 

[SwaggyD]

But, before rural Montanans get to down in the mouth on Bozeman and license plates with a 6, you might want to send us some Thank You cards

I'm sure many people did but they got lost in the mail!

 

[The Hedgehog]

I don't want any thank you, just asking that my tires are not slashed because of where I live.

 

[Nameless Range]

I take all of this as good humor. No doubt the huge changes in Bozeman and Gallatin County give some basis for deserved ridicule.

But, before rural Montanans get to down in the mouth on Bozeman and license plates with a 6, you might want to send us some Thank You cards when it comes time to pay property taxes and when your local school board tries to balance their budget. I'll explain below.

We have this thing in Montana called "State School Equalization." It is where every piece of property is assessed its proportionate share of mill levy, based on assessed values, for taxes that go to the Montana General Fund for purposes of "equalizing" school funding. A lot of smaller/rural school districts have with their most valuable properties covered by the famous "ag exemption." Thus, they end up with very little tax receipts for school funding. Without the equalization payments coming their way, the per pupil spending in those smaller and rural districts would be very unbalanced compared to a place like Bozeman, where a school levy has never failed in my 32 years here.

Since Gallatin County schools are funded at a much higher rate than smaller/rural schools, we are a net payer to the Equalization effort. And since our property values have increased so much, our proportionate "millage" gets higher every year. That's to the benefit of small/rural districts who receive the majority of these Equalization payments from places like Gallatin County.

So, for this exercise, I calculated what I paid last year in the form of Equalization payments on properties I own. I paid $5,220.42, in these "School Equalization" taxes. That is about 45% of the amount that I paid to my local school district in taxes. That money gets distributed to the schools that are below the spending levels of say, Gallatin School Districts. For me, that equals $435 per month that I pay to benefit these smaller/rural districts in counties who won't/don't increase property taxes on their own local properties to fund their schools at higher levels.

Multiply that by every Gallatin County property owner, both residential and commercial, and just know those assholes with "6" license plates are helping fund a lot of your school district.

That said, it is a good distraction to read this stuff and see the opinions expressed, the humor interjected, and the offenses taken.

Next thing ya know you're gonna tell us that the only way veterans and children will ever get to hunt elk will be through transferable landowner tags.....

Just kidding, that is an interesting fact.

 

[SwaggyD]

Next thing ya know you're gonna tell us that the only way veterans and children will ever get to hunt elk will be through transferable landowner tags.....

Just kidding, that is an interesting fact.

IT’S FOR THE KIDS!!!!!

 

[mtmuley]

I don't want any thank you, just asking that my tires are not slashed because of where I live.

Put one of them Native Montanan bumper stickers on your truck. Nobody will touch anything. mtmuley

 

[SwaggyD]

I actually got Boone and Crockett plates for the sole reason when I went home to hunt with my dad people didn’t assume I was an OTC (out of town c@&ksucker).