20-9-331. Basic county tax for elementary equalization and other revenue for county equalization of elementary BASE funding program. (1) Subject to 15-10-420, the county commissioners of each county shall levy an annual basic county tax of 33 mills on the dollar of the taxable value of all taxable property within the county, except for property subject to a tax or fee under 61-3-321(2) or (3), 61-3-529, 61-3-537, 61-3-562, 61-3-570, and 67-3-204, for the purposes of elementary equalization and state BASE funding program support. The revenue collected from this levy must be apportioned to the support of the elementary BASE funding programs of the school districts in the county and to the school equalization and property tax reduction account established in 20-9-336 in the following manner:

Terms Used In Montana Code 20-9-331

  • BASE: means base amount for school equity. See Montana Code 20-9-306
  • BASE funding program: means the state program for the equitable distribution of the state's share of the cost of Montana's basic system of public elementary schools and high schools, through county equalization aid as provided in 20-9-331 and 20-9-333 and state equalization aid as provided in 20-9-343, in support of the BASE budgets of districts and special education allowable cost payments as provided in 20-9-321. See Montana Code 20-9-306
  • 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
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
  • school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
  • 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

(a)In order to determine the amount of revenue raised by this levy that is retained by the county, the sum of the estimated revenue identified in subsection (2) must be subtracted from the total of the BASE funding programs of all elementary districts of the county.

(b)If the basic levy and other revenue prescribed by this section produce more revenue than is required to repay a state advance for county equalization, the county treasurer shall remit the surplus funds to the department of revenue, as provided in 15-1-504, for deposit to the state general fund immediately upon occurrence of a surplus balance and each subsequent month, with any final remittance due no later than June 20 of the fiscal year for which the levy has been set.

(2)The revenue realized from the county’s portion of the levy prescribed by this section and the revenue from the following sources must be used for the equalization of the elementary BASE funding program of the county as prescribed in 20-9-335, and a separate accounting must be kept of the revenue by the county treasurer in accordance with 20-9-212(1):

(a)the portion of the federal Taylor Grazing Act funds designated for the elementary county equalization fund under the provisions of 17-3-222;

(b)the portion of the federal flood control act funds distributed to a county and designated for expenditure for the benefit of the county common schools under the provisions of 17-3-232;

(c)all money paid into the county treasury as a result of fines for violations of law, except money paid to a justice’s court, and the use of which is not otherwise specified by law;

(d)any money remaining at the end of the immediately preceding school fiscal year in the county treasurer’s accounts for the various sources of revenue established or referred to in this section;

(e)any federal or state money distributed to the county as payment in lieu of property taxation, including federal forest reserve funds allocated under the provisions of 17-3-213;

(f)gross proceeds taxes from coal under 15-23-703; and

(g)oil and natural gas production taxes.

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