Annual Property Tax Changes by County

The charts are intended to provide taxpayers with more information about the growth in property taxes. The 2021 Legislature required the Department of Revenue to provide a ten-year lookback at the growth of property taxes by major taxing jurisdiction.

This annualized rate of change is the amount of taxes levied in 2023 divided by the amount of taxes levied in 2014, divided into 10 years. For example, in Yellowstone County, the county levied $41.9 million in 2014 and $65.4 million in 2023. This is a total change of 56% over the 10-year period, or about 5.1% each year, on average. This rate is reflected in the bar labeled “County” on the Yellowstone County chart.

These charts also include lines indicating average countywide growth in income and population plus inflation. These are common benchmarks used by economists to gauge ability to pay (income growth) and increased demand or cost of services (population plus inflation growth). In the Yellowstone County example, the annualized income growth was 5.18% and population plus inflation was 3.92%.

These charts provide detailed information on tax growth in relation to economic changes in your county.

The bars in the charts show the 10-year average change in taxes for each taxing entity. These include both voted and non-voted levies in each jurisdiction. Newly voted property taxes show up as growth in collections.

The population and inflation line measures the change in the cost of services (for which property taxes pay). Population numbers are from the Census Bureau and inflation is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When comparing this index to the average property tax changes, the question to be answered is, “Is the average change in property taxes paid to fund these services in line with the estimated change in cost and demand for services?”

The personal income line measures growth in the economy and people’s ability to pay. Data is sourced from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and includes wages, Social Security, and business and investment income. When comparing this index to the average property tax changes, the question to be answered is, “Is income growth keeping up with the average change in property taxes paid?”

A taxing jurisdiction is a governmental entity that has taxing authority over a property. The combination of mills levied by taxing jurisdictions with authority over an individual property determines the total taxes paid. In a county, all properties pay the same number of mills to the county. If a taxpayer resides within city limits, they will also pay taxes to that city. Each property in the state is within both an elementary school district and a high school district. Additionally, all properties pay a countywide mill towards bussing and retirement. These mills are separate from the local school mills because they are assessed on a countywide basis. Finally, all property in the state pays state mills towards statewide education equalization and to support the Montana University System.

A mill is equal to 1/1000 of a dollar of taxable value. A levy of 10 mills is equal to 1% of taxable value. A more detailed explanation of how property taxes are calculated can be found in the Department of Revenue’s Biennial Report Property Tax Section.

These 10-year lookback charts are highly sensitive to start and end points in time. Natural resource taxes offset property taxes; however, the amount of taxes associated with that industry may have changed over the ten year period. This is especially true for counties with significant oil and gas activity such as Fallon, Wibaux, and Richland. Oil and gas taxes tended to offset less property taxes in 2023 than in 2014. Although their percentage increase is large relative to most other counties, their total taxes paid remain relatively low, in part because of this natural resource tax money.

Information on the total property taxes paid by county can found in the Department of Revenue’s Biennial Report Property Tax Section beginning on page 239. Information on taxes paid by type of property can be found in the appendix on the same webpage.

The Department of Revenue’s Property Assessment Division reappraises property every 2 years at 100% of market value; the department does not determine taxes. Taxing jurisdictions determine how many mills to levy each year based on their budgets and the total amount of taxable value in their jurisdiction. A large increase in market value does not necessarily correlate to a large increase in property taxes; your property’s market value is just one step in the calculation to determine taxes.

A property’s taxable value is the market value multiplied by the tax (or assessment) rate. For residential property, the tax rate is 1.35% and for commercial property, the tax rate is 1.89%.

Example

Market value = $350,000 for a residential property

The following is the basic formula taxing jurisdictions use to determine the number of mills to be levied on properties within the jurisdiction. Any voted mills would be added onto this amount.

Example

City’s annual budget = $1,000,000

Total taxable value = $25,000,000

To determine the taxes on an individual property, the formula below is used. The total mill amount is calculated by adding up the mills levied by jurisdictions that have taxing authority over the property.

Example

Taxable Value = $4,725

Total Mills = 600