Require levies or bonds for judgments, settlements, or protested taxes to be submitted to voters
SB 108 requires Montana local governments (counties, cities, school districts) to get voter approval before raising property taxes or issuing bonds to pay court judgments, settlements, or tax protest refunds that exceed existing tax limits. Specifically, if a government needs to collect more tax revenue than permitted under current law (2-9-108) to cover these costs, voters must approve the levy or bond issuance. The bill amends multiple statutes to enforce this voter approval step for such "excess" tax increases. It does not change how governments pay routine expenses but adds a new voting requirement for specific, larger financial obligations tied to legal disputes. This affects local budgets when resolving court cases or tax disputes that require funding beyond standard tax allowances.
Bill status
died
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Governor
Introduced Jan 8, 2025
Last action May 23, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
SB0108_1(8).pdf
→
SB0108_2.pdf
·
4 edits
MODERATE
This bill amends Montana statutes to clarify that property tax levies and bond issuances used to pay judgments or tax protest refunds are subject to voter approval if they exceed constitutional spending limits. It also clarifies that certain special tax levies for boards and commissions are exempt from general voter approval only if they fall under specific judgment-related statutes.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of voter approval requirements by explicitly including levies that exceed constitutional limits, whereas previous versions implied this without explicit text.
REQUIREMENT
Added explicit language stating that property tax levies for judgments or settlements exceeding constitutional limits must be approved by voters.
Added explicit language stating that bonds for judgments exceeding constitutional limits must be submitted to registered electors for approval.
Updated the authority for counties to issue bonds to explicitly require voter approval for judgments exceeding constitutional limits.
DEFINITION
Clarified that all tax levies are subject to voter approval, except for specific judgment levies already covered by other statutes.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 10, 2025 · House Feb 19, 2025
How they voted
33–16
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 50
Feb 10, 2025
D
Democratic18
77% Nay
R
Republican32
90% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
26
Key actions
4
Committee
4
Amendments
1
Feb 19, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (21-0)
house
Feb 19, 2025
Amended
(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Taxation
lower
Feb 11, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Taxation
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (33-16-1)
senate
Feb 4, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Local Government
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Local Government
upper
Jan 14, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Local Government
upper
Jan 8, 2025
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Greg Hertz
RRepublican
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