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Newsletter from Montana
December 2005
A second agent has joined the Sky Lodge forces. Now we have a skilled rancher on board. Lynn Hildebrand raised purebred cattle for over forty yearsandstill has his hands in ranching and farming. With his degrees in animal science and forage production, he owned and operated ranches in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado and Montana and was a livestock judge for many years. He is familiar with all the ins and outs of irrigation in this semi-arid country and has raised thousands of purebred Angus cattle, winning many prizes. He has managed several land improvement projects and has plenty of experience showing cattle for major state fairs and shows. He was the first area farmer to successfully set up and operate a rotational grazing system on irrigated pasture and he was the first area farmer to setup a 30"rowand high moisture corn storage and feeding program. He was one of the first area Angus breeders to send bulls to a central test station, to purchase performance tested bulls from a central test station, and to utilize artificial insemination (AI.) In Wyoming he managed large pivot circles and towline irrigated systems under which he raised beans, corn and haya long with some wheat farming. He did all the paperwork on his registered Angus cattle operation himself and had a production sale once a year. He is very familiar with all phases of commercial livestock production and management of up to a 1000 head backgrounding feedlot. If you would like to know more, I made a website with the rest of the story:
http://montanahereicome.com/lynn.htm
If you are looking for a ranch, you can reach him at 406/664 3221 -provided he found his answering machine... otherwise call me and I will get you in touch with him.
The downtown bakery in Red Lodge is for sale and just reduced the price to $ 60,000, which includes all the equipment, know how and customer list, but not the building.
http://montanahereicome.com/Bakery/
Jane serves mountain pies - for which she had a special oven manufactured. She loves her bakery, but for health reasons is not able to stand up all day. The bakery would make a great second income and the little seating area will accommodate everyone who would like to sit down and stay awhile. The bakery brought in about $ 20,000 this year, but there is plenty of room for expansion, since this is a fairly new business.
I paid out to all of my client's favorite charities and had to add quite
a few links to charitable organizations on my listings page.
In 2005 I had over 40 closings and sold over $ 10 million worth of real
estate - by myself. That included five farms/ranches, four commercial
deals, 23 lots/land and 13 residences.
I wonder what will happen in 2006 after I engage half a dozen agents or
so.... ?
In the Red Lodge area a total of 110 residences were sold, 93 lots/land,
eight commercial sales and five farms/ranches.
Montana has a new methamphetamine disclosure law and I have placed a
link below my listings to a five page long list of contaminated property
addresses in Montana. These addresses are for meth labs that have
been busted, but not cleaned up yet. Once all soft surfaces have been
replaced, these addresses will disappear from the list.....
http://deq.mt.gov/meth/MethPropertyList.pdf
You might be familiar with aerial photos the government provides; here is
a link to them, which I put on my website:
http://local.live.com/
I added a new link in the margin of my weather page to an animated radar image of weather fronts
http://www.montanahereicome.com/radar.htm
It shows the whole North American continent.
If you live in Montana, chances are you have access to a Video Gambling Machine (VGM). Love it or hate it, there's no denying that the gambling industry has become a significant part of the Montana economy. Gambling opportunities exist for residents in all 56 counties, with a statewide total of 1,557 gambling establishments and over 20,000 licensed VGMs. Because VGMs are located in a variety of establishments, such as casinos, bars, gas stations, and other retail outlets it is difficult to determine who works in the industry, or even what constitutes a "gambling establishment." TheState of Montana collected $53 million in gambling tax revenues during the 2005 fiscal year. Total taxes collected were the highest in Yellowstone County at over $10 million. The lowest total occurred in Treasure County, which collected less than $5,000 in tax revenues. I put a couple of graphics on my website:
http://www.montanahereicome.com/Fun/gamble.htm
Figure 1 shows Tax revenues per person (residents 18 years or older). Mineral County collected the most taxes, with $166.30 per person, while Treasure County remains the lowest, with only $9.50 collected per person. Generally, it appears that counties with large populations have higher revenues per person than those with low populations. However, several small counties, such as Richland, Wibaux, and Mineral, exhibit high rates. This may be caused by both their proximity to the state border and to heavily used roadways. The rates in these counties suggest that interstate travel may contribute to the local gambling industry. Over 20,000 VGM licenses were issued in 2005, with machines licensed in all 56 counties. Yellowstone County had the most machines with 2,753, while two counties, Treasure and Petroleum, had fewer than ten machines. Figure 2 shows machines per person (over 18) for each county. Mineral County has the highest number of machines per person, (10 people per machine). Treasure County has the lowest count, with less than 111 people per machine. Unlike revenue per person, it appears that counties with smaller populations are more likely to have a high number of machines per person. Border counties were shown to have high per capita counts, again indicating that interstate travel may have an effect on the local gambling industry.
What really strikes me funny is that Internet casinos are illegal operations in the eyes of the federal government, but they look like solid investments to many of Wall Street's largest firms. Blue-chip investment houses such as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Fidelity hold hundreds of millions of dollars in shares of online casinos and betting parlors, which are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered outside the United States in places such as Costa Rica or Gibraltar, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The growing participation by U.S. investors highlights a striking gap between the federal law-enforcement position on online gambling and the realities behind what has emerged as a booming business. It also illustrates the difficulty of policing cross-border activity in the internet age at the same time electronic commerce and a global economy are creating fast economic partners across national boundaries. Legal experts are divided over whether U.S. investors and the investment houses that operate mutual funds could be seen as criminally liable for their actions by providing financial backing for these offshore casinos. It is not uncommon for Americans to invest in overseas companies whose operations may be considered illegal or unacceptable in the United States, from manufacturers who use sweatshops to European energy producers that do business in Iran. The difference with Internet gambling is that the activity takes place on domestic shores - with Americans placing bets online using their computers - and the Justice Department has stated clearly that the operators are violating U.S. law. Millions of Americans use the Internet to play poker, blackjack and roulette, or wager on sporting events. Online casinos advertise in magazines and on television and fill billboards in Times Square and other places where crowds congregate :-)
At any rate, the Montana personal income tax came down from 11% in 2004 to 6.9% in 2005 you'll be glad to hear, and here is the breakdown:
$ 0 - 2,300 1% of net taxable income
2,300 - 4,100 2% minus $23
4,100 - 6,200 3% minus $64
6,200 - 8,400 4% minus $126
8,400 - 10,800 5% minus $210
10,800 - 13,900 6% minus $318
13,900 and up 6.9% minus $443
http://montanahereicome.com/info.htm
"Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting." Why?
Because water is a scarce commodity in Montana. The Montana Water Trust
(MWT), founded in 2001, is a private, nonprofit organization located in Missoula, Montana. You can temporarily lease your water rights to them to avoid an
abandonment judgment if you do not make use of your water rights. They will then put
the water to use for fish habitats, wildlife or recreational purposes.
They currently have 13 agreements through their Instream Flow
Restoration Program which have restored a total of 23.24 cubic feet/second - over
15 million gallons of water per day - to Montana's rivers and streams!
Their phone number is 406/721 0476
http://www.montanawatertrust.org/
The original water appropriation doctrine came from California in
the 1800s after miners developed a water use system as an alternative to
the riparian water system prevalent in England and the eastern United
States. The prior appropriation doctrine emerged because it could adapt flexibly
to the needs of miners, as it allowed diversion to a distant location
and simply required use of the water for a beneficial purpose. Western
states adopted the miners' approach through both court decisions and
codification, and the policy of prior appropriation became the law of the western
states, including Montana. We are still measuring the quantity of water that can
be used in "miner's inches." Here is a flow rate converter:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/csgflowrateconv.html
The doctrine of prior appropriation in Montana and throughout the
West operates under the philosophy "first in time, first in right."
In other words, the first person to divert and use water from a stream acquires
a senior right to the quantity of water used. Later claimants exercise
their rights in descending order of priority and are referred to as junior
users. In times of shortage, those users with the oldest water rights are
entitled to take their full rights from the stream before those with younger
rights. Oftentimes, not enough water is left instream to support
fisheries.
Water rights must meet the following:
> Intent: An appropriator must intend to
use the water.
> Diversion: Except for an
instream beneficial use, an appropriator must divert the water.
> Beneficial use: To perfect an
appropriation, the water must be applied to a recognized beneficial use.
> Priority access: Once the water is put
to a beneficial use, the water right receives a priority date.
> Definite quantity: The quantity
of an appropriation right must be fixed and definite.
Beneficial uses include agricultural (including stock water),
domestic, fish and wildlife, industrial, irrigation, mining, municipal, power,
and recreational uses.
The "use it or lose it rule" requires appropriators to use
their entire water right or risk abandoning it. Once a water right is deemed by
the state to be abandoned, the water is available for appropriation by
other water users. This rule was intended to encourage reasonable water use
and discourage speculation; however, it oftentimes encourages waste and
water right holders sometimes use water even when it is not necessary, simply
to ensure they do not lose it through abandonment.
If the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC)
believes that an appropriator has abandoned a water right, they may initiate a
court action to declare the right abandoned. Abandonment is the consequence
of:
> Ceasing to appropriate all or a
part of a right with the intention of abandonment;
> Ceasing to appropriate a right
according to its terms or conditions; or
> Ceasing to appropriate all or part of
a right for a period of ten years when water was available for use.
The district court conducts a hearing
and the department bears the burden of proving abandonment.
Since the enactment of the private leasing law in 1995, water right
holders can since then transfer all or a portion of their water rights to
MWT through a water lease and the amount left instream is protected
against abandonment under Montana law.
Thus, if water right holders are interested in preserving their
water rights, but may not need to use the entire right each year (e.g.,
upgraded irrigation system conserves water) they can protect their entire
water right by leasing the water to MWT for instream use to benefit fisheries.
In over-appropriated streams, such a lease will ensure that the
conserved water is not used by junior users, but will remain instream to
benefit fisheries. Leases may be entered into for a period of ten (10) years and can
be renewed for an additional ten (10) years. Montana law currently does
not permit the permanent transfer of water rights to MWT for instream
use. The Montana Water Use Act also allows water right holders who increase
the efficiency of their water use to donate or lease all or part of the
saved water for instream use. The lease may be entered into for a period equal
to the expected life of the project, not to exceed 30 years. Under the
leasing law, the instream water right is assigned the priority date of
the original water right. As such, a senior instream water right is
unavailable for use by junior water users in the protected stream reach
(see enforcement section below for further discussion). And, because
Montana only allows temporary transfers of water to an instream right,
the water right holder maintains title to the leased water
right.
If the water is frozen, it's called snow and Calvin and Hobbes seem to
know what do with that:
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html
:-)
The Carbon County Historical Society published their 2006 Events
Calendar.
All lectures are free and open to the public and are held at the museum
in Red Lodge, except for the annual meeting and the fundraiser dance in
fall. The email address for the museum is
peak2plains@tgrsolution.net - phone 406/446 3667
Jan. 16 - "To the Best of My
Ability: The Legacy of Senator Mike Mansfield"
presented by Kevin Kooistra-Manning, Community
Historian from the Western Heritage Center in Billings.
Feb. 16 - "Picture Perfect
Montana," presented by Kirby Lambert, Curator of Art, Montana Historical Society at the Carbon County Historical Society's Annual Meeting.
March 21 - "Public Women, Private Patrons, and Disreputable
Conduct,"
presented by Ellen Bounder from the
Montana Historical Society in Helena
April 21 - "History of Red Lodge," presented by Mitzi
Vorachek
May 9- "Historical Rehabilitation Tax Credits & Red
Lodge's
Unique Historic District," with
Peter Brown, Historic
Architecture Specialist from the
Montana Historic Preservation Office
May 11 - "Red Lodge Reminiscing"
June 22 - "Celebrate the History of the Beartooth Highway on it's
80th
Anniversary", presented by
Historical Research Associates
July 20- To be
announced
Aug. 16 -
"History of the Red Lodge Carnegie Library,"
presented by Bob Moran
Sept. 9 - Harvest Hoe Down" at
the Carbon County Fairgrounds - Dance,
Dinner and Fundraising Auction
Sept. 19 - "Quilting & Kibitzing: Piecing Together a
Community"-with MSU-B
Professor Kathy Mosdal O'Brien
(sponsored by Washoe Quilt Shop)
Yahoo has a nice research page for kids, in case they need some help
with their homework:
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/
I wish you a prosperous New Year and hope to see you here!
:-)
Best Regards,
Dorothea Lowe, Broker
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