Montana Title 27. Civil Liability, Remedies, and Limitations § 27-12-206. Funding

(1) There is a pretrial review fund to be administered by the director for the purposes stated in this chapter. The fund and any income from it must be held in trust, deposited in an account, and invested and reinvested by the director. The fund may not become part of or revert to the general fund of this state but is subject to auditing by the legislative auditor. Money from the assessments levied under this section must be deposited in the fund.

(2) For each fiscal year, beginning July 1, an annual assessment is levied on all chiropractic physicians. The amount of the assessment must be annually set by the director and equally assessed against all chiropractic physicians. A fund surplus at the end of a fiscal year that is not required for the administration of this chapter must be retained by the director and used to finance the administration of this chapter during the next fiscal year, in which event the director shall reduce the next annual assessment to an amount estimated to be necessary for the proper administration of this chapter during that fiscal year.

(3) The annual assessment must be paid on or before the date that the chiropractic physician's annual renewal fee under 37-1-134 is due. An unpaid assessment bears a late charge fee of $25. The late charge fee is part of the annual assessment. The director has the same powers and duties in connection with the collection of and failure to pay the annual assessment as the department of labor and industry has under 37-1-134 with regard to a chiropractic physician's annual license fee. However, nothing in this section may be interpreted to conflict with 37-1-138.