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Montana bill would let counties refer urban transportation districts to voters, ease municipal bus limits
Summary
House Bill 764 would let county commissioners refer creation or boundary changes of Urban Transportation Districts to voters by resolution rather than by an often costly petition drive, and would remove a 1975 limit barring municipal buses from operating more than eight miles beyond city borders so long as funding is found. Supporters say it reduces administrative barriers; questions remain about statutory definitions and taxpayer remedies.
Representative Brian Close introduced House Bill 764 as a technical cleanup to two 1975 provisions in Montana’s transportation code, saying the change would allow counties to begin formation or boundary adjustments for Urban Transportation Districts (UTDs) by county resolution rather than forcing petition drives that he called “massive” and expensive. “The purpose of this bill is to clean up 2 provisions for the transportation code that were created in 1975,” Close said at the hearing.
Supporters from Montana’s transit systems told the Senate Local Government Committee the petition route can be onerous. Jordan Hess, chief executive of Mountain Line (Missoula’s UTD), said the statute’s petition threshold and boundary rules sometimes produce inconsistent…
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