42.19.402    INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FOR PROPERTY TAX ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (PTAP) AND FOR MONTANA DISABLED VETERAN (MDV) PROPERTY TAX ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

(1) Sections 15-6-301, 15-6-305, and 15-6-311, MCA, provide property tax relief to low income homeowners, qualified disabled veterans, and qualified veterans' spouses. Sections 15-6-301, 15-6-305, and 15-6-311, MCA, also require the department to annually adjust the income schedules used to determine the eligibility and the amount of relief to account for the effects of inflation.

(2) The calculation of the inflation adjustment shall be made on a yearly basis as follows:

(a) Sections 15-6-301, 15-6-305, and 15-6-311, MCA, specify that the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures (PCE), published quarterly in the Survey of Current Business by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is to be used in the calculation of the inflation factor.

(b) The formula for the calculation of the inflation factor is as follows:

 

PCE (t-1)

IFt = ---------

PCE t o

where:

IFt equals the inflation factor for property tax year t,

 

PCE (t-1) is the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures for April of the year prior to the tax year in question,

 

PCE t o is the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures for April 2015.

 

(c) The inflation factor, calculated per the previous section, is used to annually adjust the base year income schedules for the effects of inflation.

 

Each income figure in the base year income schedule is multiplied by the inflation factor calculated for the tax year in question in order to update the schedule. The product is then rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount.

 

(3) The base year income schedule for PTAP as provided in 15-6-305, MCA, is as follows:

 

----------- PTAP Base Year Income Schedule -------------

 

Single Person

 

 

Head of Household or Married Couple

 

 

Percentage Multiplier

 

$0 - $8,413

 

$0 - $11,217

 

20%

$8,414 - $12,900

 

$11,218 - $19,630

 

50%

$12,901 - $21,032

 

$19,631 - $28,043

 

70%

 

(4) The base year income schedule for MDV as provided in 15-6-311, MCA, is as follows:

 

----------- MDV Base Year Income Schedule -------------

 

Single Person

 

 

Head of Household or Married Couple

 

 

 

Surviving Spouse

Percentage Multiplier

 

$0 - $37,404

 

$0 - $44,885

 

$0 - $31,170

0%

$37,405 - $41,145

 

$44,886 - $48,626

 

$31,171 - $34,911

20%

$41,146 - $44,885

 

$48,627 - $52,366

 

$34,912 - $38,651

30%

$44,886 - $48,626

 

$52,367 - $56,107

 

$38,652 - $42,392

50%

 

History: 15-1-201, MCA; IMP, 15-6-191, 15-6-301, 15-6-305, 15-6-311, MCA; NEW, 1988 MAR p. 734, Eff. 4/15/88; AMD, 1989 MAR p. 613, Eff. 5/12/89; AMD, 1992 MAR p. 2559, Eff. 11/26/92; AMD, 1996 MAR p. 1171, Eff. 4/26/96; AMD, 2004 MAR p. 490, Eff. 2/27/04; AMD, 2006 MAR p. 3102, Eff. 12/22/06; AMD, 2015 MAR p. 2041, Eff. 11/13/15; AMD, 2016 MAR p. 1865, Eff. 10/15/16; AMD, 2019 MAR p. 2387, Eff. 12/28/19.