When I'm out talking with neighbors at their doors in Joliet, Fromberg, and Bridger, one concern keeps coming up: clean, reliable drinking water. People are worried. I'm digging into what's happening with each system and what kind of help our towns can get to fix the problems folks are running into.
This isn't only a Carbon County issue. It's the story of rural Montana.
What the data is telling us
On May 13th and 14th, I'll be in Helena for back-to-back committee meetings – the Legislative Finance Committee and the Modernization and Risk Analysis Committee, known as MARA. MARA has been doing the kind of work that finally puts numbers behind what every mayor in a town of 500 already knows: catching up on water and wastewater maintenance is brutally expensive when the population paying for it is small.
The Legislative Fiscal Division presented a study to MARA showing what it actually costs to replace water systems serving Montana communities. In a town of 120 people, the annual replacement cost works out to more than $3,600 per person. In a town of 820, it's roughly $1,090 per person. By the time you get to Havre or Billings, the number drops under $1,000 per person.
Small towns aren't necessarily getting a worse deal because they're doing something wrong. An issue with a pipe in the ground costs the same whether the system serves 120 people or 12,000.
What we did about it last session
In the 2025 session, we passed HB924, which established the Growth and Opportunity Trust using a portion of our state surplus revenue. The whole point of that trust is exactly this kind of problem – making sure that when a town in Carbon County needs to replace aging infrastructure, the resources are actually there. That money belongs to Montanans, and it should go to work in Montana communities.
My job in MARA over the coming months is to make sure we understand where the gaps are, how big they are, and which towns need help first. I want Joliet, Fromberg, and Bridger on that map, and I want answers I can bring home.
Come talk to me — Roberts Fire Hall, May 7th at 7:00 p.m.
I want to hear directly from you. I'm holding a town hall at the Roberts Fire Hall today, Thursday, May 7th, at 7:00 p.m. Come ask me anything – water, taxes, schools, what's happening in Helena, what you wish was happening. Your questions help me better represent you.
Important voting dates
- Absentee ballots should arrive on Saturday, May 9th. If you vote absentee, watch your mailbox.
- In-person election day is Tuesday, June 2nd. Mark your calendar.
Property Tax Enrollment Re-Opened
Last session, I supported property tax relief that cut taxes for the vast majority of Montanans while protecting funding for the schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, and water infrastructure we depend on. If you haven't enrolled in the homestead exemption, recently bought a home and missed the filing window, or didn't get a long-term rental that was in a trust or LLC enrolled, the Department of Revenue has reopened the filing period as of May 4th. You can verify enrollment and enroll at:
https://revenue.mt.gov/property/property-tax-changes/homesteads-and-long-term-rentals.
It is an honor to serve you.
Brad Barker
Representative
House District 55 (Carbon County)
brad@bradbarker.com
bradbarker.com
406-426-1034
facebook.com/Representative.Barker
NOTE:
You may have seen the latest TV ad attacking me. It claims I support gender transitions for kids.
Here is my voting record - public, on the books, anyone can check:
2023
SB 99 - Voted YES. The Youth Health Protection Act. Prohibits medical and surgical treatments to treat minors with gender dysphoria; prohibits public funds, programs, property, and employees from being used for these treatments; provides that a health care professional who violates the law commits professional misconduct.
2025
HB 682 — Voted YES. Holds providers accountable for gender transitions on minors.
HB 690 — Voted YES. Affirmed parents' right to raise their child consistent with their sex assigned at birth, and protected those parents from CPS investigation.
HB 300 — Voted YES. Protected women's sports.
HB 121 — Voted YES. Protected women's private spaces.
So why are they lying about me? Because the same network is in court right now trying to take property tax relief away from you.
I worked with Governor Gianforte to cut your property taxes. In addition, homestead exemptions reversed the shift of around $270 million of property tax burden from out-of-state-owned industrial properties to Montana homeowners that occurred from 2021 to 2024 as residential prices skyrocketed.
In January, Sen. Greg Hertz, Sen. Tom McGillvray, and former Sen. Keith Regier, Senate President Matt Regier's father, filed a lawsuit in Gallatin County District Court asking a judge to throw out SB 542, the entire property tax law that gave Carbon County its $400 rebate with an additional 7.5% decrease in Tax Year 25 and another 17% reduction, on average, coming next year.
In April, Art Wittich's state Republican Party joined them. The Governor's office has been clear: if they win, "property taxes for Montana homeowners will increase significantly."
The TV ad attacking me is paid for by Montana Patriots, run by Representative Lukas Schubert, who works for Senate President Matt Regier. Same network. Same agenda.
They can't beat me on my record, so they're lying about it. They're attacking me because I stood between out-of-state interests and a tax hike on Carbon County homeowners.
I'll always put my constituents first.
