Montana Taxation Monitored by the Montana Taxpayers Assoication. Information on Montana Taxation.

Why are my agriculatural land values increasing?
Our association believes there may be an issue on the calculation of the phase-in for your agriculatural land values. The legislative intent of the phase in was to ensure the total statewide increase in the change in the market value was revenue neutral by class of property. Each class' fully phased in value resulting from the 2009 reappraisal less the total value from the 2003 reappraisal was made revenue neutral by reducing the tax rate each year (for residential and commercial property, the legislature also included an increased exemption on the market value - homestead and comstead expemption). As with any reappraisal, certain parts of the state increase or decrease by different percentages, so your final value could be more or less than the state average.

In theory a taxpayer should be able to take the difference between the value of each parcel from the previous cycle (as shown on your assessment notice as Market/Productivity Value as of 1/1/2002) and the new 2009 reappraisal value (the fully phased in value in 2014 as shown on your assessment notice as the 7/1/2008 value) to derermine the effect of the overall change over the six year cycle.

How should the phase-in operate?

We have developed an ag calculator to help you see the how the phase-in was intended to operate.

NOTE: you will see a series of three messages:
1. Do you want to open or save this file --- choose "open"
2. A web site wants to open content ----- choose "allow"
3. Finally you may see a message that asks what you want to do ----- choose "read only"

There are three yellow cells in the spreadsheet. These are the only numbers you need to enter. The cells in teal will be calculated for you. This spreadsheet will provide you with your prior year's value (Tax Year 2008), how much will be phased in, the tax rates and taxable values through the phase in. The last column will calculate the estimated taxes during the phase in, using the 2008 Tax Year Mill Levy.

You can print the spreadsheet after you enter your numbers. You will need to enter the numbers for each parcel to see the actual effect.

Our January newsletter contains a detailed explanation of the changes and suggestions we have made to correct the overvaluation. If you are not a member and would like a copy, please return to our home page. www.montax.org