Residents get sticker-shock from property appraisal notices

The sticker-shock of estimated property taxes to residents of Mineral County hit a nerve when assessments arrived in mailboxes Friday or Saturday.

The Montana Department of Revenue has mailed property classification and appraisal notices to all owners of residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural land properties in Montana. They may look like it but these notices are not tax bills. And they may be incorrect.

They include the department’s determination of market or productivity value and the taxable value for property that will be used by county treasurers to determine the property taxes owed for tax year 2023 and 2024. With property values rising across the board, the department’s efforts to estimate your new tax obligation may overstate what you’ll actually owe when your county treasurer sends over your tax bill this fall.

This assessment knocked the wind out of many people as the last assessment was completed in 2021 but everyone has witnessed firsthand the substantial increase in home values. Plus, the neighborhood housing developments around Alberton and near Sloway as well as individual lots and homes that had sat on the market for a year or more have been snapped up.

This month, public meetings be held across the state to help taxpayers understand the property valuation process and how the department determined the new values on their appraisal notices. Go to MTRevenue.gov for the dates, times, and venues of the public meetings being held.

Mineral County Commissioner Roman Zylawy said, “The state Department of Revenue does the tax appraisals every few years and primarily sets the tax rate. We commissioners have to then allocate whatever money amount that is to our budget,” and that won’t be known until the County Treasurer inspects the assessments.

If you call and ask, they’ll probably tell you that the state’s estimate won’t be what you see when they send your actual tax bill out this fall.

With this being said, if property owners disagree with the department’s determination of value for their property, they may submit a “Request for Informal Classification and Appraisal Review” (called Form AB-26) within 30 days of the date on their notice. Owners can electronically submit the form, download it, and find more information on the informal review process at MTRevenue.gov.

Plus, there is the Property Tax Assistance Program (PTAP) which helps citizens on a fixed or limited income by reducing the property tax rate on their home.

The PTAP benefit only applies to the first $200,000 of your primary residence's market value. The income and marriage status determine the reduction. For homes on agricultural or forest land, the benefit applies to the home and one-acre home site. To qualify in Tax Year 2023, you must:

• Own or currently be under a contract to purchase a home or mobile/manufactured home.

• Live in the home as your primary residence for at least seven months of the year.

• Have a 2021 Federal Adjusted Gross Income (FAGI), excluding capital and income losses, less than: Single: $24,607 or Married or Head of Household: $32,810

More information on the PTAP and upcoming public meetings go to https://montana.servicenowservices.com/