15-15-101. County tax appeal board -- meetings and compensation. (1) The board of county commissioners of each county shall appoint a county tax appeal board, with a minimum of three members and with the members to serve staggered terms of 3 years each. The members of each county tax appeal board must be residents of the county in which they serve. A person may not be a member of a county tax appeal board if the person was an employee of the department less than 36 months before the date of appointment.

(2) (a) The members receive compensation as provided in subsection (2)(b) and travel expenses, as provided for in 2-18-501 through 2-18-503, only when the county tax appeal board meets to hear taxpayers' appeals from property tax assessments or when they are attending meetings called by the Montana tax appeal board. Travel expenses and compensation must be paid from the appropriation to the Montana tax appeal board.

(b) (i) The daily compensation for a member is as follows:

(A) $45 for 4 hours of work or less; and

(B) $90 for more than 4 hours of work.

(ii) For the purpose of calculating work hours in this subsection (2)(b), work includes hearing tax appeals, deliberating with other board members, and attending meetings called by the Montana tax appeal board.

(3) Office space and equipment for the county tax appeal boards must be furnished by the county. All other incidental expenses must be paid from the appropriation of the Montana tax appeal board.

(4) The county tax appeal board shall hold an organizational meeting each year on the date of its first scheduled hearing, immediately before conducting the business for which the hearing was otherwise scheduled. At the organizational meeting, the members shall choose one member as the presiding officer of the board. The county tax appeal board shall continue in session from July 1 of the current tax year until December 31 of the current tax year to hear protests concerning assessments made by the department until the business of hearing protests is disposed of and may meet after December 31 to hear an appeal at the discretion of the county tax appeal board.

(5) In counties that have appointed more than three members to the county tax appeal board, only three members shall hear each appeal. The presiding officer shall select the three members hearing each appeal.

(6) In connection with an appeal, the county tax appeal board may change any assessment or fix the assessment at some other level. Upon notification by the county tax appeal board, the county clerk and recorder shall publish a notice to taxpayers, giving the time the county tax appeal board will be in session to hear scheduled protests concerning assessments and the latest date the county tax appeal board may take applications for the hearings. The notice must be published in a newspaper if any is printed in the county or, if none, then in the manner that the county tax appeal board directs. The notice must be published by May 15 of the current tax year.

(7) Challenges to a department rule governing the assessment of property or to an assessment procedure apply only to the taxpayer bringing the challenge and may not apply to all similarly situated taxpayers unless an action is brought in the district court as provided in 15-1-406.