The Montana Department of Revenue notified Cascade County, Great Falls Public Schools, Great Falls Transit and the City of Great Falls officials on Oct. 25 of their revised certified taxable value due to an “industrial appeal settlement.”
The adjustment appears to be related to the department’s recent request for clarification of Calumet’s tax abatement approved by the city and county rather than an actual appeal settlement, according to county officials.
DOR officials told GFPS officials this week that the adjustment was due to ongoing appeals with Calumet.
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DOR has not yet responded to The Electric’s Oct. 25 questions for clarification on what specifically was the reason for the adjustment.
The city capped their 2022 tax abatement at $50 million and did not receive a revised valuation with the the other local taxing jurisdictions on Oct. 25, according to the city finance office.
Calumet still has two pending appeals before the Montana Tax Appeal Board for 2022 and 2023 taxes and said in Oct. 18 filings that it is still considering whether to protest its 2024 taxes.
Montana Renewables, Calumet’s subsidiary, has an appeal pending before the state tax board of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s decision not to certify the entire Great Falls facility as tax exempt.
The Oct. 25 adjustment lowers the taxable values of each jurisdiction by about $4 million.
It also delays the county’s process to issue tax bills.
Diane Heikkila, county treasurer, told The Electric that they were hoping to send tax bills to the printers on Oct 4 and Oct. 11, but that’s didn’t happen so they’re about two to three weeks behind.
She said her office has been awaiting final tax valuation numbers to process the tax bills.
Once the bills are sent to the printers, get proofs and make corrections, it’s about 10 days before they’re mailed out, Heikkila said.
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She said if they can get information finalized and get the bills to the printer by Nov. 1, she’s hoping to have bills to the taxpayers by Nov. 15.
Due dates will be pushed back to accommodate the delay, she said.
The Great Falls Public Schools board voted during their Oct. 28 meeting to adjust their budget for the revised tax valuations.
The revision lowered the amount in the elementary district by $4,130,446 and in the high school district by $4,129,255.
Montana Renewables, Calumet have pending tax appeals before state board
That changes the district’s taxable valuation that was issued by DOR in August, and used for the district’s budget, from $182,603,795 in the elementary to $178,473,349; and $185,329,633 to $181,200,378 in the high school.
The district submitted their budget to the state in August and will be updated.
The adopted budget amounts won’t change, but the the mills levied will increase due to the decrease in taxable valuation, creating “a tax shift from Calumet to the district taxpayers,” according to Brian Patrick, GFPS’ business operations manager.
The school board adopted a budget in August with a tax reduction of $75.27 on a house with a $300,000 taxable valuation, according to GFPS.
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Taxpayers will still be paying less toward GFPS this year, but that reduction will be slightly less with the taxable valuation revisions.
Now, a taxpayer will pay $53.59 less than last year on a house with a $300,000 taxable valuation, according to GFPS.
On Oct. 30, the Cascade County Commission is scheduled to conduct a special meeting to address the tax revision.
Commissioner Joe Briggs said he believes the adjustment is the Calumet abatement issue DOR sought clarification for over the summer and that commissioners voted on Oct. 15.
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He said that the adjustment is larger than the estimate DOR had provided, which was a $2.9 million reduction in taxable valuation. Briggs said the county based their budget on that estimate so their budget officer is preparing an analysis of the impact.
“In each of the last few years we have had an adjustment downward in the taxable valuations after we have set the mills due to various tax appeals at the state level and we have not redone our mills, but have instead reduced spending as necessary and adjusted the budget as needed,” Briggs said.
The revision impacts the county’s general fund and countywide levies, which totaled 141.48 mills.
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The revision translates to a reduction in revenue from what was budgeted of about $125,000 in the general fund and about $3,000 for the public safety levy.
The change only affected values in the newly taxable category, Briggs said, so it doesn’t change the number of mills the county can levy and doesn’t require a public hearing to adjust the mills.
Briggs said commissioners can modify the budget later if needed to reduce the spending levels to match the new tax estimates.
