(The following article by Jared Miller was posted on the Great Falls Tribune website on April 5.)
HELENA, Mont. — The House gave final approval Monday to a bill intended to force Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to reduce shipping rates for Montana grain growers.
BNSF hauls nearly all of the state’s export grain and charges a higher rate than it does in states with more competitive shipping alternatives, according to a 2004 report on Montana freight competition.
The discrepancy costs Montana growers about $60 million a year, the report said.
House Bill 703 by Rep. Bob Bergren, D-Havre, seeks to reduce that discrepancy by changing the way the state calculates property taxes for railroads. The more BNSF charges Montana farmers in relation to those other states, the more the company would pay in state property tax.
“If they want to gouge us, they pay,” Bergren said.
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas called the bill “inappropriate and a violation of federal laws.”
During a hearing on the bill in the House Taxation Committee, BNSF representative Alec Vincent said the railroad would have little choice but to file suit if the bill were enacted.
Bergren said the bill already is having the desired effect. The railroad’s chief executive officer and Gov. Brian Schweitzer have set a tentative meeting time to discuss shipping rates, he said.
“These are big movements,” Bergren said. “That’s what we’ve been asking for.”
Bergren said he’s grown tired of watching the effects of high shipping rates on the Hi-Line.
Many farmers find it more economical to enroll their land in federal reserve programs than to harvest a crop. High shipping rates are partly to blame, Bergren said.
The result has been shrinking schools and towns and a less prosperous region of the state.
“Schools are consolidating and consolidating again,” Bergren said.
Bergren concedes that, if enacted, HB703 probably will be the target of litigation, but he insists the bill does nothing to violate federal law since it merely changes the existing tax code. State revenue officials and lawyers agree, Bergren said.
“I think this is a real significant bill, and I think today’s (vote) sent a loud an clear message,” Bergren said.