Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 80. AGRICULTURE

CHAPTER 2. AGRICULTURAL SERVICES

Part 2. Hail Insurance

Board To Establish Amount Of Rates -- Disposition Of Funds

80-2-222. Board to establish amount of rates -- disposition of funds. (1) The board of hail insurance may, when it considers it advisable, establish as many districts as it considers advisable and may maintain maximum rates in various parts of the state. The rates must be commensurate with the risk incurred as nearly as it can determine from past experiences or from any records available.

(2) Notice of the various rates established for any year must be plainly printed on the application for hail insurance, and the rates for the year must be determined and imposed by the board of hail insurance for each of the various districts as established, in proportions that will in the board's judgment be fair and equitable.

(3) The department may accept and expend all funds received by it, including amounts repaid as principal and interest on investments. The funds are statutorily appropriated, as provided in 17-7-502, to the board of hail insurance for the purposes of this chapter. Expenditures for actual and necessary expenses required for the efficient administration of this part must be made from temporary appropriations, as described in 17-7-501(1) or (2), made for that purpose.

(4) In establishing the rates provided in this section, the board of hail insurance shall provide for:

(a) the payment of all expenses of administration, together with all interest owed or to be owing on registered warrants;

(b) that portion of the losses incurred during the current year that are not paid from funds drawn from the reserve;

(c) the maintenance of the reserve, a part or all of which may be used in any 1 year for the purpose of paying the costs of administration, interest on the warrants, and losses as settled and adjusted by the board, including the losses sustained in any prior year or years under the hail insurance law that have not been paid.

(5) If at the end of any hail insurance season the board determines that more funds are accumulating from the current year's rates than were estimated when the rates were established and are in excess of the need for the payment of losses and expenses and maintenance of the reserve, the board may, at its discretion, refund the excess to the persons insured for the year on a pro rata or percentage basis.

(6) The board of hail insurance may direct the board of investments to invest funds from the enterprise fund pursuant to the provisions of the unified investment program for state funds. The income from the investments must be credited to the board of hail insurance account in the enterprise fund.

History: (1), (2)En. Sec. 2, Ch. 169, L. 1917; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 34, L. 1919; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 141, L. 1921; re-en. Sec. 351, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 40, L. 1923; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 54, L. 1931; re-en. Sec. 351, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 33, L. 1949; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 200, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 59, Ch. 391, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 154, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 32, Ch. 13, L. 1977; Sec. 82-1506, R.C.M. 1947; (3) thru (5)En. Sec. 2, Ch. 34, L. 1919; re-en. Sec. 352, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 40, L. 1923; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 8, L. 1929; re-en. Sec. 352, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 200, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 20, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 73, Ch. 147, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 154, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 16, L. 1977; Sec. 82-1507, R.C.M. 1947; R.C.M. 1947, 82-1506(4), (5), 82-1507(1), (2), (7); amd. Sec. 39, Ch. 281, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 691, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 69, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 211, Ch. 574, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 399, L. 2013.