Montana State Legislature

Legislative Council assigned the House Joint Resolution No. 36 study to the Revenue Interim Committee. The study ranked first among the polled studies.

The Committee adopted the HJ 36 Residential Property Tax Study Final Report and requested a committee bill to provide for an all ages homeowner and renter tax credit (LC 455).

The committee also created an educational  brochure explaining residential property taxes. The brochure may be printed and distributed publicly.

Materials provided for the study will be listed below by meeting date.

Meeting Materials

September 15, 2022

• HJ 36: Updated Residential Property Tax Relief Options -- Megan Moore
• Bill drafts:
  • HJ36-01: Revise property tax assistance program
  • HJ36-02: All ages residential property tax credit of up to $1,300
• HJ 36: Monthly Property Tax Payments -- Megan Moore
• Residential Property Tax brochure (second draft)
• HJ 36 Final Report (second draft)
• Public comment
  • Montana State Library

June 16-17, 2022

• Memo: Wyoming and Hawaii Sales Tax Analysis -- Finn McMichael, DOR
• HJ 36: Residential Property Tax Relief Options -- Megan Moore
  • Estimated Mill Shifts -- DOR
• SB 212 County Property Tax Examples -- DOR
• Sample classification and appraisal notice (HB 298) -- DOR
• Residential Property Tax brochure (draft)
• HJ 36 Final Report (draft)

April 18-19, 2022

• HJ 36: Circuit Breakers -- Megan Moore
• HJ 36: Property Tax Assistance Program -- Megan Moore
• HJ 36: Other Revenue Sources -- Megan Moore
• Memo: Revenue Impact of Statewide Sales Tax - Modeled after South Dakota -- Finn McMichael, DOR
• HJ 36: Land Use Changes -- Megan Moore
• Residential vs. Nonqualified Agricultural Land Classification and Valuation -- DOR
• Public comment
  • Bob Story, Montana Taxpayers Association

January 20-21, 2022

• Property Tax Relief for Homeowners:  full report, slides -- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
• Montana Annotation of Table 1.3 Potential Problems with the Property Tax and Promising Solutions (revised) -- Megan Moore
• HJ 36: Property Tax Assistance, Abatements, and Exemptions (revised)-- Megan Moore
• Constitutional Initiative No. 121
  • Legal sufficiency review of Proposed Ballot Measure No. 9 -- Office of the Montana Attorney General
  • Comments submitted to Attorney General:
    • Montana Association of Realtors (attachments:  Roosevelt v. Montana Dept. of Revenue,  Statement of Purpose and Implication)
    • Montana Budget & Policy Center
    • Montana Chamber of Commerce
    • Montana Farm Bureau Federation
    • Montana Federation of Public Employees
    • Montana Infrastructure Coalition
    • Montana League of Cities and Towns and Montana Association of Counties
    • C. Lee Seitz
  • Fiscal note for initiative "Real Property Tax Constitutional Limit" -- Office of Budget and Program Planning
  • Ballot Issue No. 9 (fourth submission) - Real Property Tax Constitutional Limit-- Jaret Coles
  • Example of assessment limit in CI-121 -- Nick VanBrown, Legislative Fiscal Division
  • Public comment:
    • Rep. Matt Regier
    • Bob Story, Montana Taxpayers Association:  Constitutional Initiative 121,  Percent Change in Property 2000-2014 and 2015-2020,  graphic
    • Richard Thieltges:  Property Tax Assistance Program,  Constitutional Initiative 121

November 8-9, 2021

• Special Districts: Statutory Authority -- Toni Henneman
• School Funding and Property Taxes - Basics and Background -- Pad McCracken and Julia Pattin
  • K-12 Funding Basics – District General Fund
• Determination of Tax Revenue and Mill Levy Limitations
  • County handouts: Beaverhead, Butte-Silver Bow, Cascade, Daniels, Lake,  Phillips, Powell
  • City handouts: Bozeman, East Helena, Great Falls, Missoula
  • Calculation of inflation factor -- DOR
  • Memo: Inflation Factor for Mill Levy Calculation in 15-10-420, MCA for FY 2022 -- DOR
  • Memo: Determination of Newly Taxable Property -- DOR
• Out-of-State Mailing Addresses for Residential Property Owners in Montana
  • Mailing Address Analysis, Ownership Transfer Stats
• Local Government Panel handouts
  • Revenues and Expenditures, FY 2020 -- Montana Infrastructure Coalition
  • Tax Bill for Median Value Home:  Butte-Silver Bow,  Columbia Falls, Jefferson County,  Ravalli County
  • Columbia Falls handouts -- Susan Nicosia, City Manager
• Public comment
  • Property Tax Relief for Homeowners -- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (submitted by Rose Bender, Montana Budget & Policy Center)
  • Richard Watson

September 23 -24, 2021

• Property Tax Overview -- Megan Moore
• Selected Property Tax pages from DOR Biennial Report
• Property Assessment (slides) -- DOR
• What is Mass Appraisal? -- DOR
• Measuring the Quality of Reappraisal slides, report -- DOR
• State Property Tax Authority and Limits -- Megan Moore
• Property Tax Limits -- Megan Moore
• Constitutional Property Tax Parameters -- Jaret Coles

July 15, 2021

Public comment: 

• Policy Basics: Property Taxes in Montana -- Montana Budget and Policy Center
• Memo from Sen. Dick Barrett provided by Rose Bender, Montana Budget and Policy Center