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SB 32MONTANASession 2025State Billdead
Did Not Advance

Montana bill revises property tax classes, lowers multiple property tax rates, and alters local government levy limits

Original title: Generally revise property taxes

Last action · May 23, 2025: (S) Died in ProcessSponsor: Jeremy Trebas

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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What This Bill Proposed

This bill comprehensively revises Montana's property tax laws by altering taxable percentage rates across various property classes, restructuring class eight business equipment taxation tiers, adjusting local government limit calculations to include an inflation factor, and applying these changes to property tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.

Why it matters

Property owners, businesses, and local governments across Montana face altered tax assessment rates, modified business equipment exemption and tax tiers, and new restrictions or flexibilities in calculating annual property tax mill levies starting in tax year 2026.

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Montana property owners

Property owners face revised taxable percentage rates across various property classes and updated mill levy calculation rules starting in tax year 2026.

Directly affected

Local governments

Local governmental entities must calculate their maximum property tax mill levies using a modified formula incorporating a prior year tax baseline and an inflation adjustment.

Directly affected

Businesses and commercial entities

Businesses owning class eight property, manufacturing equipment, data centers, or utility infrastructure are subject to restructured taxable percentages and exemption rules.

Key Facts

  • Class two property (annual gross proceeds of metal mines) tax rate is revised.
  • Class three property tax rates for agricultural land, nonproductive patented mining claims, and nonqualified agricultural land are revised.
  • Class four property tax rates and definitions for residential, commercial, industrial, and owner-occupied properties are updated, including a specific rate for single-family residential dwelling market value in excess of $1.5 million.
  • Class five property tax rates and exemptions for air and water pollution control, carbon capture equipment, and fiber optic or coaxial cable are modified, including provisions for local government tax recapture.
Show all 16 facts
  • Class seven property tax rates for rural electric cooperatives and utility equipment are revised.
  • Class eight property tax rates and exemptions for agricultural implements, mining machinery, manufacturing equipment, and oil and gas production equipment are restructured, establishing specific brackets for taxable market value up to and in excess of $6 million.
  • Class nine property tax rates for centrally assessed electrical, natural gas, and pipeline allocations are revised to a new percentage.
  • Class twelve property tax rates for railroad and airline transportation property are updated.
  • Class thirteen property tax rates for electrical generation and telecommunications companies are revised.
  • Class fourteen property tax rates for renewable energy generation, energy storage, and transmission lines are revised.
  • Class fifteen property tax rates for carbon dioxide pipelines, liquid pipelines, and carbon sequestration equipment are revised.
  • Class sixteen property tax rates for high-voltage direct-current converter stations are revised.
  • Class seventeen property tax rates for qualified data centers and dedicated communications infrastructure are revised.
  • Class eighteen property tax rates for green hydrogen facilities, pipelines, and storage systems are revised.
  • Local government mill levy calculation procedures under section 15-10-420 are modified to incorporate an inflation adjustment based on the prior year's property taxes and the 3-year average consumer price index.
  • The act applies to property tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Senate Bill 32 change local government property tax mill levies?
The bill updates the procedure for calculating mill levies by allowing governmental entities to impose the prior year plus an inflation adjustment based on one-half of the average rate of inflation for the prior 3 years using the consumer price index.
How are class eight business properties taxed under the bill?
Class eight property provides an exemption for the first $1 million of market value, and for taxable market value in excess of that exemption, the first $6 million is taxed at 1.5% and value in excess of $6 million is taxed at 3%.

What else do you want to know?

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died in committee.

Procedural history

33 actions
  1. May 23, 2025Senate
    (S) Died in Process
  2. Apr 7, 2025Senate
    (S) Missed Deadline for Revenue Bill Transmittal
  3. Apr 2, 2025Senate
    (S) Motion
  4. Apr 1, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Tabled in Committee
  5. Mar 12, 2025Senate
    (S) Hearing
  6. Feb 26, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Rereferred to Committee
Show 27 earlier actions
  1. Feb 26, 2025Senate
    (S) 2nd Reading
  2. Feb 26, 2025Senate
    (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading
  3. Feb 26, 2025Senate
    (S) Revised Fiscal Note Printed
  4. Feb 25, 2025Senate
    (S) Fiscal Note Unsigned
  5. Feb 25, 2025Senate
    (S) Revised Fiscal Note Received
  6. Feb 20, 2025Senate
    (S) Fiscal Note Requested
  7. Feb 11, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Committee Report
  8. Feb 10, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Committee Executive Action
  9. Feb 3, 2025Senate
    (S) Revised Fiscal Note Signed
  10. Feb 3, 2025Senate
    (S) Revised Fiscal Note Received
  11. Jan 23, 2025Senate
    (S) Revised Fiscal Note Requested
  12. Jan 15, 2025Senate
    (S) Fiscal Note Printed
  13. Jan 15, 2025Senate
    (S) Fiscal Note Unsigned
  14. Jan 14, 2025Senate
    (S) Fiscal Note Received
  15. Jan 13, 2025Senate
    (S) Hearing
  16. Jan 7, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Referred to Committee
  17. Jan 6, 2025Senate
    (S) 1st Reading
  18. Dec 18, 2024Senate
    (S) Fiscal Note Requested
  19. Dec 12, 2024SenateIntroduced
    (S) Introduced
  20. Dec 12, 2024House
    (LC) Draft Delivered to Requester
  21. Dec 9, 2024House
    (LC) Draft Ready for Delivery
  22. Dec 9, 2024House
    (LC) Draft in Assembly
  23. Nov 19, 2024House
    (LC) Draft in Final Drafter Review
  24. Nov 14, 2024House
    (LC) Draft in Input/Proofing
  25. Oct 29, 2024House
    (LC) Draft in Edit
  26. Oct 28, 2024House
    (LC) Draft in Legal Review
  27. Aug 28, 2024House
    (LC) Drafter Assigned

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Sponsors

Jeremy TrebasSenate · District 10RepublicanPrimary sponsor

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift95% confidence

Comprehensive Property Tax Class Overhaul

The legislation simultaneously restructures tax percentages across nearly all major property classifications from class two through class eighteen.

Department of Revenue

Connected Entities

Montana tax appeal board, Department of Revenue, Public Service Commission and 7 more
OrganizationMontana tax appeal board“Board handling appeals on property certification, classification, and valuation”Map →
OrganizationDepartment of Revenue“State department responsible for property tax valuation, rules, and classificati”Map →
OrganizationPublic Service Commission“Regulator for transmission pipelines”Map →
otherTax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982“Federal act describing airline transportation property”Map →
PersonJeremy Trebas“Republican Senator, District 10, introduced Senate Bill 32”Map →
OrganizationFederal Energy Regulatory Commission“Federal regulator for natural gas and oil transmission pipelines”Map →
otherRailroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976“Federal act describing railroad transportation property”Map →
otherAmerican Rescue Plan Act“Federal legislation providing funds referenced under Section 9901”Map →
OrganizationDepartment of Environmental Quality“State department responsible for certifying environmental and pollution control ”Map →
OrganizationBoard of Oil and Gas Conservation“Board promulgating rules for carbon sequestration equipment certification”Map →

Sources

Open source document

bills.legmt.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance20
    Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
  • Controversy65
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz40
    Current news / social attention level

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