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Takings Initiative
“Takings” Initiative May Be Dropped
United Property Owners of Montana announced in January that it intends to abandon its effort to place a “takings” initiative on the November 2010 ballot. The initiative, I-162, would have required State and local governments to pay individuals whenever a government action reduced the value of private property.
The initiative, first announced last Summer, was approved by the State for signature gathering in December 2009. The initiative is so broad that it would have applied to many different types of property, not just to land. While the initiative states that it only would require government to compensate a property owner when a government action or decision reduced a property’s value property by 25%, that is not so. The language is so broad that any reduction in property value caused by a regulation could require government compensation—regardless of whether the regulation is needed to protect public health and safety.
The Governor’s Budget Office estimated that the initiative could have cost the State of Montana $1.2 billion over the next six years. Perhaps it was this figure, or perhaps it was the overreaching language in the initiative, that caused the sponsor to abandon the proposal. The only thing that is certain is that the issue is far from dead. Another entity could step forward and try and collect enough signatures to place the measure on the November ballot. Or, as the initiative sponsor said in the press, United Property Owners could take the proposal to the legislature in 2011.
The legislature has rejected similar proposals for almost 20 years, both under Democratic and Republican control. MEIC hopes the 2011 legislature will be as wise.