SJ 8 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Request interim study of property tax special districts

This Montana joint resolution (SJ 8) requests a study of special districts that collect property taxes, which account for roughly 10% of the state's total property tax revenue. The study, to be completed by September 2026, will categorize these districts, examine their funding mechanisms (including fees not tied to mill levies), and assess whether current reporting requirements are sufficient. It does not change existing laws but aims to improve data on special districts' purposes, areas, funding, and spending. The final report will be submitted to Montana's 70th Legislature for consideration.

Bill status passed both 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 Feb 24, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

SJ0008_1(4).pdf → SJ0008_2(1).pdf · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was converted from a draft Senate Joint Resolution to an enrolled, final version ready for signing. The substantive policy content, including the request for a study on special districts and the deadline of September 15, 2026, remains unchanged. The primary changes are the addition of official certification signatures and page numbering.

TECHNICAL

The document format changed from a draft with line numbers to an official enrolled bill with certification signatures for the Secretary of the Senate, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House.

Page headers and footers were added to indicate this is the 'Authorized Print Version' and 'Enrolled Bill'.

Floor votes · Senate Jan 29, 2025 · House Feb 18, 2025

How they voted

44–5

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 50

Jan 29, 2025

D Democratic18

16 Yea 1 Nay 1

88% Yea

R Republican32

28 Yea 4 Nay

87% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 24, 2025

Introduced

(S) Filed with Secretary of State

upper

Feb 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Signed by Speaker

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Signed by President

upper

Feb 18, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (99-0-1)

house

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Report - (H) Taxation

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Taxation

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Committee

(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Taxation

lower

Jan 29, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (44-5-1)

senate

Jan 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Report - (S) Taxation

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Taxation

upper

Jan 14, 2025

Committee

(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Taxation

upper

Jan 8, 2025

Introduced

(S) Introduced

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors