Missoula County Answers Questions About Property Tax Payments

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On the Wednesday KGVO Talk Back show, our guest was Missoula CPA Walk Kero, and one caller was upset about having to pay city property taxes even though he lives in the ‘donut’ area in Missoula County.

I later spoke to Tyler Gernant, the County Treasurer and Clerk and Recorder, who said the caller was mistaken.

Tyler Gernant Addresses Paying City Taxes if You Live in the County

“There's no such thing as paying city taxes but not living in the city,” began Gernant. “You can live outside the city and pay city taxes on property you own in the city, but your property taxes are based on boundaries, so if you don't live within those boundaries, you don't pay those taxes.”

I also spoke to Gernant about the procedures used to challenge your property taxes.

“You think that the value (of your home) is not correct,” he said. “The description of your house is correct. Everything's good there, but they just have the value wrong. You believe your house is not worth as much as they say it is. This year in June you will get a notice of assessed value from the Montana Department of Revenue, and you have 30 days from the day of that notice to contest your value and say, I don't think my house is worth this much.”

Gernant Addressed the Issue of Challenging Your Property Taxes

Gernant continued on the topic of challenging your property taxes by disputing your home’s real value.

“There is an issue with the description of your property,” he said. “The Department of Revenue says you have 5,000 square foot house, but it's really only 2,500 square feet, or they say you've got six bathrooms, but you've only really have two. You basically go through the Department of Revenue to have them come out and look at the property, and if they determine that it is incorrect, that they have the wrong description, then you can petition the county commissioners, or really just make a request to the county commissioners, can then refund you, which it used to be up to five years of back taxes based on that error, and now it's 10 years.”

In the past, the only way open to Missoula County residents to pay their property taxes was in two equal installments, however, Gernant said there is a new system of splitting up your property taxes into several equal payments.

You Can Now Split Your Property Taxes into Seven Equal Payments

“If you have your primary residence that is not subject to a mortgage, so you don't have an escrow company, you can make seven equal installment payments of your property taxes,” he said. “It's been popular, and we've got about 50 people signed up for that program. Your bill will still come to you. You won’t get seven coupons, but it has a readout of what all seven payments should be, and then you're responsible for making those payments.”

Click here to see the legal requirements of paying your property taxes under protest.