20-25-455. Montana university system assistance program — purpose — duties of board of regents. (1) There is a Montana university system assistance program administered by the board of regents through the office of the commissioner of higher education. The program must allow a private donor to make tax deductible contributions by cash, check, or money order that benefit a qualifying institution and students of these public institutions.

Terms Used In Montana Code 20-25-455

  • Board of regents: means the board of regents of higher education created by Article X, section 9, subsection (2), of the Montana constitution and 2-15-1505. See Montana Code 20-1-101
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of higher education created by Article X, section 9, subsection (2), of the Montana constitution and 2-15-1506. See Montana Code 20-1-101
  • district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • fund: means a separate detailed account of receipts and expenditures for a specific purpose as authorized by law or by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of subsection (2). See Montana Code 20-9-201
  • Regents: means the board of regents of higher education. See Montana Code 20-1-101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
  • System: means the Montana university system. See Montana Code 20-1-101
  • University: means the university of Montana-Missoula. See Montana Code 20-1-101

(2)As part of the program, the board of regents shall:

(a)provide a donor with a receipt that reflects the contribution in sufficient detail for the donor to claim any applicable credits or deductions for state and federal income tax purposes;

(b)deposit donations to the program in the state special revenue account established by 20-25-456;

(c)develop procedures and forms that enable a donor to make contributions by cash, check, or money order for the benefit of a specific qualifying institution. If a donor does not select an institution, the donation must be allocated on an equal basis to all qualifying institutions by dividing the total donation by the number of qualifying institutions.

(d)develop procedures and forms that enable a donor to select the percentage of the donation that will be used by a qualifying institution for building projects, educational programs, and academic scholarships. If a donor does not make a selection, the donation may be used for the general support, maintenance, or improvement of the institution as provided in 17-3-1001(2).

(e)maintain adequate records to account for contributions that are allocated to each specific qualifying institution and any donor selection preference;

(f)provide each qualifying institution with a schedule showing the total donations credited to the institution at the end of each fiscal year; and

(g)distribute donor contributions to the qualifying institution’s endowment fund as provided in 20-25-456.

(3)For the purposes of 20-25-456 and this section, “qualifying institution” means:

(a)a Montana community college that is part of a community college district, defined and organized as provided in 20-15-101; and

(b)a unit of the Montana university system, as described in 20-25-201, or any of its affiliated campuses.

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