How to Handle Your Montana Property Tax Bill If You Have a Pending Appeal

The county treasurers’ offices around the state of Montana are now sending out property tax payment notices. It is crucial for your appeal to follow these instructions when making your property tax payment, while your appeal is pending.
 
You must file your property tax payment under protest with your county treasurer. In order to pay taxes under protest, MCA Section 15-1-402 (1), imposes 5 separate requirements as follows:

1. The taxes must be paid under protest before they become delinquent;
2. The payment must be accompanied by a written protest for that portion of the tax or license fee protested;
   • This written protest can be accomplished by downloading a form from your county treasurer’s website OR by preparing a protest letter (see below for more information on the protest letter.)
3. The payment must be made to the officer designated and authorized to collect it (i.e. the Madison County Treasurer for property taxes in Madison County);
4. The written protest must specify the grounds or reasons of the protest, and the amount paid under protest must directly relate to the grounds specified;
   • For the reason for the protest, you can enter “The reason for the protest is a dispute as to the valuation of the property.”
   • For the Amount paid on 1st Installment, you need to enter the current year’s 1st installment amount from your tax bill
   • For the Amount of 1st Installment Protested, you need to enter the difference between the current year’s 1st installment amount and the previous year’s 1st installment amount.
5. The amount paid under protest must not exceed the difference between the payment for the immediately preceding tax year and the amount owing in the tax year protested unless a different amount results from the specified grounds of protest, which grounds may include but are not limited to changes in assessment due to reappraisal under 15-7-111.

Protest Letter

A separate protest letter must accompany each parcel that is being protested. All protest letters must include the following information in order for a protest to be accepted:

• Current Year
• Date
• Legal Description
• Mortgage Company or Escrow Agent’s Name If Any
• Parcel Number
• Protested Amount
• Reason for Protest
• Taxpayer’s Name as Shown On Tax Bill
• Taxpayer’s Signature
• Whether Tax Is Appealed

Have questions about this process? Our tax attorneys at Silverman Law Office are ready to help. Call 406-582-8822 or reach out at https://mttaxlaw.com/contact/ to get started.