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House committee tables bill to let counties employ property appraisers
Summary
Rep. Tracy Sharp introduced HB 644 to allow counties to employ property appraisers to speed assessment of newly taxable properties; county officials opposed shifting assessment duties from the Department of Revenue and the committee tabled the bill for further work.
Representative Tracy Sharp opened HB 644 saying she brought the bill at the request of county commissioners to allow counties to employ a property appraiser for property-tax purposes but that she and DOR were unable to reach a compromise. Sharp said commissioners found the DOR response unacceptable and asked the committee to table the bill.
Jason Riddle of the Montana Association of Counties opposed the counties taking over assessment duties, telling the committee that when newly taxable properties are not assessed promptly “it hurts all the taxpayers” and urging lawmakers instead to consider giving DOR sufficient resources to capture those properties. Richland County Commissioner Shane Gorder echoed the association’s concerns and reiterated why the county leadership opposed the change.
No informational witnesses appeared and the committee asked no substantive questions. Representative Sharp closed the hearing and asked that the bill be handed out for executive action. At executive action, members voted to table HB 644 by voice/proxy vote; the chair announced the bill was tabled by a vote of 21 to 0.
The proposal would change who performs certain property-tax assessments and has implications for workload, local control and DOR administration; proponents who favor local control did not appear in support at the hearing, and MACo urged funding DOR instead. The committee’s tabling leaves the matter open for amendment or a future bill.
