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SB 133MONTANASession 2025State BillSigned into law
Enacted

Montana caps local development impact fee increases at inflation rate and eliminates administration fee

Original title: Revise impact fee laws

Last action · May 13, 2025: Chapter Number AssignedSponsor: Greg Hertz

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

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What This Bill Does

Montana prohibits local governments from increasing initial s beyond the rate of inflation and removes the allowance for a 5% administration fee on collected charges. The law applies to counties, cities, towns, and consolidated governments undertaking development approvals and revising impact fee calculations under MCA sections 7-6-1601 and 7-6-1602.

Why it matters

Real estate developers and new homebuyers face capped upfront municipal charges while local governments lose the ability to levy a 5% administrative fee on those collections.

Background
  • Impact fees are charges levied by local governments on new developments to help pay for infrastructure like roads, water systems, and emergency services required by population growth. context
  • Greg Hertz is a Republican member of the Montana Senate representing District 7. context

Who It Affects

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

Directly affected

counties

County governments can no longer collect a 5% administration fee on impact fees and must restrict initial fee increases to the rate of inflation.

Directly affected

cities

City and town governments must adjust their impact fee structures to comply with the new inflation caps and remove administrative fee components.

Directly affected

new development projects

Developers face statutory limits on how much initial impact fees can increase and are exempt from the previous 5% administrative fee surcharge.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can local governments still charge an administrative fee for handling impact fees?
No. SB 133 removes the provision that previously allowed local governments to collect an administration fee of up to 5% of the total .
How is the inflation rate cap calculated for impact fees?
The inflation rate is determined by comparing the most recently published month's , all commodities (using the 1982-84 base of 100), to the same month in the prior year.

What else do you want to know?

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Where This Stands

Current status: Signed into law.

Procedural history

40 actions
  1. May 13, 2025Senate
    Chapter Number Assigned
  2. May 8, 2025SenateEnrolled
    (S) Signed by Governor
  3. May 1, 2025Senate
    (S) Transmitted to Governor
  4. May 1, 2025House
    (H) Signed by Speaker
  5. Apr 22, 2025Senate
    (S) Signed by President
  6. Apr 16, 2025Senate
    (S) Returned from Enrolling
Show 34 earlier actions
  1. Apr 15, 2025Senate
    (S) Sent to Enrolling
  2. Apr 15, 2025Senate
    (S) 3rd Reading House Amendments
  3. Apr 15, 2025Senate
    (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading
  4. Apr 14, 2025Senate
    (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments
  5. Apr 14, 2025Senate
    (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading
  6. Apr 11, 2025House
    (H) Returned to Senate with Amendments
  7. Apr 11, 2025House
    (H) 3rd Reading
  8. Apr 11, 2025House
    (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading
  9. Apr 11, 2025House
    (H) 2nd Reading
  10. Apr 11, 2025House
    (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading
  11. Apr 9, 2025HouseCommittee
    (H) Committee Report
  12. Apr 8, 2025HouseCommittee
    (H) Committee Executive Action
  13. Mar 6, 2025House
    (H) Hearing
  14. Feb 10, 2025House
    (H) 1st Reading
  15. Feb 10, 2025HouseCommittee
    (H) Referred to Committee
  16. Feb 7, 2025Senate
    (S) Transmitted to House
  17. Feb 7, 2025Senate
    (S) 3rd Reading
  18. Feb 7, 2025Senate
    (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading
  19. Feb 6, 2025Senate
    (S) 2nd Reading
  20. Feb 6, 2025Senate
    (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading
  21. Feb 4, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Committee Report
  22. Feb 3, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Committee Executive Action
  23. Jan 16, 2025Senate
    (S) Hearing
  24. Jan 15, 2025SenateCommittee
    (S) Referred to Committee
  25. Jan 14, 2025Senate
    (S) 1st Reading
  26. Jan 13, 2025SenateIntroduced
    (S) Introduced
  27. Jan 13, 2025House
    (LC) Draft Delivered to Requester
  28. Jan 10, 2025House
    (LC) Draft Ready for Delivery
  29. Jan 9, 2025House
    (LC) Draft in Assembly
  30. Jan 7, 2025House
    (LC) Draft in Final Drafter Review
  31. Jan 7, 2025House
    (LC) Draft in Input/Proofing
  32. Jan 6, 2025House
    (LC) Draft in Edit
  33. Jan 2, 2025House
    (LC) Draft in Legal Review
  34. Nov 11, 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

Greg HertzSenate · District 7RepublicanPrimary sponsor

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

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

policy shift100% confidence

Elimination of Local Fee Surcharges

The legislation removes a long-standing statutory allowance for local governments to tack on a 5% administration fee on impact collections.

Connected Entities

Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, Greg Hertz
OrganizationBureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor“Publishes the producer price index by commodity used to calculate the inflation ”Map →
PersonGreg Hertz“Republican Senator representing District 7 and sponsor of SB 133”Map →

Sources

Open source document

bills.legmt.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance75
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy60
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz35
    Current news / social attention level

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