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Two Montana school district trustees have filed a lawsuit contending that the state's method of financing K-12 schools violates the state constitution.
Montana sets school budgets, agrees to pay for a portion of those expenses, then requires state residents to pay for the rest through property taxes, said Conrad F. Stroebe, a plaintiff and a school trustee for Billings School District 2.
Such a formula is unfair, given the differences in property values throughout the state, he argued, because some taxpayers are forced to levy bigger tax hikes than their family and friends in other communities must pay.
"We're discriminating against taxpayers based on where they live," said Mr. Stroebe, whose coplaintiff is his wife, Teresa M. Stroebe, who is a school trustee for Lockwood School District 26, which is in the Billings...