Montana Title 15. Taxation § 15-16-201. Tax prepayment--new industrial facilities

(1) A person intending to construct or locate a major new industrial facility, as defined in subsection (2) of this section, shall upon request of the board of county commissioners of the county in which the facility is to be located, prepay, when permission is granted to construct or locate by the appropriate governmental agency, an amount equal to three times the estimated property tax due the year the facility is completed. The person who is to prepay under this section shall not be obligated to prepay the entire amount at one time but, upon request of the board of county commissioners of the county, shall prepay only that amount shown to be needed from time to time. To assure this payment or payments, the person who is to prepay shall guarantee to the board of county commissioners and also have a bank or banks guarantee that these amounts will be paid as needed for expenditures created by the impact. When the facility is completed and assessed by the department of revenue, it shall be subject during the first 3 years and thereafter to taxation as all other property similarly situated, except that one-fifth of the amount prepaid shall be allowed as a credit against property taxes in each of the first 5 years after the start of productive operation of the facility.

(2) A major new industrial facility is a manufacturing or mining facility other than a large-scale mineral development as defined in 90-6-302 which will employ on an average annual basis at least 100 people in construction or operation of the facility and which will create a substantial adverse impact on existing state, county, or municipal services.