HOUSE BILL NO. 405

INTRODUCED BY D. FUCHS

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT CHANGING THE LINEAL YARDS REQUIREMENT FOR GOLF COURSES TO BE TAXED AT ONE-HALF THE RATE OF OTHER CLASS FOUR PROPERTY; AMENDING SECTION 15-6-134, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE AND A RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY DATE."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Section 15-6-134, MCA, is amended to read:

"15-6-134. Class four property -- description -- taxable percentage. (1) Class four property includes:

(a) all land, except that specifically included in another class;

(b) all improvements, including trailers, manufactured homes, or mobile homes used as a residence, except those specifically included in another class;

(c) the first $100,000 or less of the market value of any improvement on real property, including trailers, manufactured homes, or mobile homes, and appurtenant land not exceeding 5 acres owned or under contract for deed and actually occupied for at least 7 months a year as the primary residential dwelling of any person whose total income from all sources, including net business income and otherwise tax-exempt income of all types but not including social security income paid directly to a nursing home, is not more than $15,000 for a single person or $20,000 for a married couple or a head of household, as adjusted according to subsection (2)(b)(ii). For the purposes of this subsection (1)(c), net business income is gross income less ordinary operating expenses but before deducting depreciation or depletion allowance, or both.

(d) all golf courses, including land and improvements actually and necessarily used for that purpose, that consist of at least nine holes and not less than 700 lineal yards; and

(e) all improvements on land that is eligible for valuation, assessment, and taxation as agricultural land under 15-7-202, including 1 acre of real property beneath improvements on land described in 15-6-133(1)(c). The 1 acre must be valued at market value.

(2) Class four property is taxed as follows:

(a) (i) Except as provided in 15-24-1402 or 15-24-1501 and subsection (2)(a)(ii) of this section, property described in subsections (1)(a), (1)(b), and (1)(e) of this section is taxed at 3.86% of its market value.

(ii) The taxable percentage rate in subsection (2)(a)(i) must be adjusted downward by subtracting 0.022 percentage points each year until the tax rate is equal to or less than 2.78%.

(b) (i) Property qualifying under the property tax assistance program in subsection (1)(c) is taxed at the rate provided in subsection (2)(a)(ii) of its market value multiplied by a percentage figure based on income and determined from the following table:

Income	Income	Percentage

Single Person	Married Couple	Multiplier

Head of Household

$0 - $ 6,000	$0 - $ 8,000	20%

6,001 - 9,200	8,001 - 14,000	50%

9,201 - 15,000	14,001 - 20,000	70%

(ii) The income levels contained in the table in subsection (2)(b)(i) must be adjusted for inflation annually by the department . The adjustment to the income levels is determined by:

(A) multiplying the appropriate dollar amount from the table in subsection (2)(b)(i) by the ratio of the PCE for the second quarter of the year prior to the year of application to the PCE for the second quarter of 1995; and

(B) rounding the product thus obtained to the nearest whole dollar amount.

(iii) "PCE" means the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures as published quarterly in the Survey of Current Business by the bureau of economic analysis of the U.S. department of commerce.

(c) Property described in subsection (1)(d) is taxed at one-half the taxable percentage rate established in subsection (2)(a)(i).

(3) Within the meaning of comparable property, as defined in 15-1-101, property assessed as commercial property is comparable only to other property assessed as commercial property and property assessed as other than commercial property is comparable only to other property assessed as other than commercial property."

NEW SECTION. Section 2. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

NEW SECTION. Section 3. Retroactive applicability. [This act] applies retroactively, within the meaning of 1-2-109, to property tax years beginning after December 31, 1998.

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