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County urged to approve first-in-city tax-exemption application, consider local criteria
Summary
County staff said a state assessment raised a remodel's value by 3.5% (above the 2.5% statutory threshold); County Attorney Morgan Smith urged approval but recommended the Commission adopt local criteria and a resolution to guide future requests and authorize recapture when taxpayers do not complete work.
The Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Commission heard details June 9 about a property-tax-exemption application that the Department of Revenue flagged for an assessed-value increase exceeding the statutory threshold.
CFO Eric Hoiland told commissioners the Department of Revenue reported a 3.5% increase to the property's value, above the 2.5% threshold set out in state law. County Attorney Morgan Smith said the county has completed the required public hearing and now must decide whether to approve the application at next week’s business meeting.
"They did come back with an increase of 3.5% which does exceed the 2.5%...it's in your court now to kind of make a judgement call," CFO Eric Hoiland said.
Morgan Smith told the Commission she had prepared a May 12 memo explaining the process, supplied example resolutions used by other Montana jurisdictions, and recommended approving the application while also adopting a local resolution that would set review criteria and avoid creating precedent. She noted the statute does include a recapture provision if a property owner accepts tax abatement and then fails to complete the required work while taxes remain in abatement.
"Without more information I think denial of it would be difficult to articulate a reason to," County Attorney Morgan Smith said, and urged the Commission to consider crafting local standards so taxpayers know what to expect.
Commissioners said they were concerned about the potential fiscal impact if similar applications became frequent and asked staff to bring sample resolutions from other counties for discussion at a future work session. No formal vote was taken at the work session; the item is scheduled for a decision during next week’s meeting under the timeline set by state statute.
