Deadline for tax rate reductions extended

The deadline to apply for a couple of new property tax rate reductions has been extended through March 20.

Thursday, Gov. Greg Gianforte and Department of Revenue Director Brendan Beatty announced property owners wanting to apply for the homestead or long-term rental tax rate reduction have roughly three more weeks.

Earlier this week, Bryce Kaatz, with the Department of Revenue, told legislators long-term rental property owners had been slow to apply for the reduction.

Then, a flurry of last minute filings created technical issues for an online portal, according to a news release Thursday from the Governor’s Office and Department of Revenue.

In a statement about the extension, Gianforte said state government should be customer friendly and responsive, and no one should be penalized for a glitch.

“Our top priority is delivering permanent and meaningful property tax relief to the hardworking Montanans who call this state home,” Gianforte said.

Electronic applications must be submitted at homestead.mt.gov by midnight on March 20. Physical applications sent by mail must be postmarked on or before that same day.

This week, the Revenue Interim Committee heard updates on a couple of key property tax reduction bills the Montana Legislature adopted in its 2025 session, Senate Bill 542 and House Bill 231.

Residential owners had seen steep increases in property taxes in recent years, and those bills together aimed to provide relief to residents, including through a rebate, a graduated tax rate, and reductions for homes that are primary residences.

One bill, SB 542, is the subject of a lawsuit filed last month alleging it is unconstitutional, partly for rolling multiple ideas into one piece of legislation; the case is pending.

At the meeting this week, legislators heard about the lag in applications from long-term rental owners as well as the status of the property tax reduction for Montanans who live in their homes, the “homestead” exemption.

During the session, legislators and Gianforte worked to provide relief to Montanans who live in their homes as opposed to out-of-staters who own high-value properties here.

But some Montanans with vacation cabins saw property tax increases too, and at their meeting, legislators mulled that outcome. Previously, some lawmakers had warned about property taxes on cabins.

Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, also said recently at a GOP event that taxes are not actually going down overall, they’re just hitting someone else.

“If your taxes went down $500, somebody else’s taxes in your school district, your city, your county, went up $500 because this is just a shift,” Hertz said. “It’s not somebody up in the Yellowstone Club or somebody up in Flathead Lake or Whitefish Lake … It is someone else in your tax jurisdiction, and most likely it’s another Montana full-time resident like myself. It’s a Main Street business owner.”

At the meeting, though, legislators heard a warning to proceed with caution with any future legislation so as not to harm the property owners they had just helped, those with homes at the median value.

“If you cut taxes on high value non-owner-occupied properties, someone else has to pay more,” said Rose Bender, with the Montana Budget and Policy Center.