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Montana Tax Appeal Board says informal hearings are live, asks committee to back bill moving board-member appeals
Summary
Montana Tax Appeal Board Chairman Travis Brown told the Revenue Interim Committee that MTAB has implemented an informal hearing process for class 4 residential appeals and proposed legislation to avoid conflicts when county tax appeal board members appeal their own property by allowing appeals in a neighboring county or directly to MTAB.
Travis Brown, chairman of the Montana Tax Appeal Board, told the Revenue Interim Committee that "as of 10/01/2025, Montana Tax Appeal Board has implemented a new informal hearing process for class 4 property." He said the board has received its first informal review and an online appeal system is now accepting filings.
Brown described a recurring procedural problem: when a member of a county tax appeal board (CTAB) files an appeal, local boards often end up hearing a fellow member’s case. That can create bias or the need to form an interim, untrained panel. To address that, Brown proposed two options: require a CTAB member’s appeal to be filed and heard in a neighboring county, or allow the appellant to bypass the county board and appeal directly to the Montana Tax Appeal Board. "We do prefer the county option just for the fact that it preserves that taxpayer's appeal rights and he still gets every single step of the appeal system," Brown said.
Why it matters: CTABs are county-level bodies that hear most first-year property-tax appeals; Montana Tax Appeal Board provides training and support for all 56 CTABs. Brown told members MTAB had roughly "25 active cases in various stages of appeals" and that the system’s workload has been heavier than usual this year. Committee members encouraged Brown to draft bill language; Brown volunteered to work with legislative staff and to present a draft by July.
Next steps: Committee members asked staff to put the concept on a future agenda and invited Brown to collaborate on a bill draft. The committee made no formal vote at the meeting.
Sources: Testimony and exchanges with Travis Brown to the Revenue Interim Committee; committee discussion.
