Allow a county to employ a property appraiser for property tax purposes
HB 644 would have allowed counties, with written permission from the Department of Revenue, to employ their own certified property appraisers for property tax purposes. Appraisals conducted by these county appraisers would then be used by the Department of Revenue when certifying taxable values. The bill also updated existing regulations regarding property valuation staff's entry onto private land for appraisals, extending these rules to county appraisers and affirming landowners' rights to be present. If a landowner denied entry, the property's value could be estimated, and appeals would require granting access or providing an independent certified appraisal.
Bill status
died
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 21, 2025
Last action May 20, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
HB0644 Legal Review Note.pdf
→
HB0644_1(3).pdf
·
1 edit
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted to include a legal review note and updated header information for the 69th Legislature. The core policy content regarding county property appraisers and property entry rules remains substantively unchanged, though minor wording adjustments were made to the procedural sections.
Scope change
The scope of the bill's applicability remains unchanged; it still applies to counties in Montana seeking to employ property appraisers.
TECHNICAL
The document structure was updated to include a formal legal review note and revised header details, while the substantive legislative text regarding property appraisal authority and entry procedures was retained with minor wording edits.
Floor votes · House Feb 28, 2025
How they voted
21–0
Passed
Total votes 21
Feb 28, 2025
D
Democratic9
100% Yea
R
Republican12
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
24
Key actions
1
Committee
2
Amendments
1
Feb 28, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (21-0)
house
Feb 28, 2025
Amended
(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Taxation
lower
Feb 25, 2025
Committee
(H) Rereferred to Committee - (H) Taxation
lower
Feb 22, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Local Government
lower
Feb 21, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Tracy Sharp
RRepublican
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