Montana

Montana Renewables, Calumet have pending tax appeals before state board – The Electric

Published

2 years ago

June 13, 2024

Montana Renewables, Calumet have pending tax appeals before state board – The Electric

Montana Renewables filed an appeal over their tax classification.

The biodiesel production company with a Great Falls facility asked the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to certify the plant as a pollution control facility.

Under state law, air and water pollution and carbon capture equipment certified as such by DEQ is tax exempt.

In November 2021, Calumet Montana Refining spun off some assets to create Montana Renewables, which is a separate company and taxpaying entity.

Montana Renewables asked DEQ to certify the entire facility as an air and water pollution control facility, which would render the entire facility tax exempt, but DEQ certified only certain equipment, representing eight percent of the facility, according to the appeal filed in April with the Montana Tax Appeal Board.

County board upholds state’s revised tax valuation for Calumet

Montana Renewables argued in its appeal that DEQ has made a “mistake of fact and failed to recognize that the MRL facility is a fully-integrated facility which provides identifiable and substantial environmental benefits that can be achieved only by operation of the biomass conversion plant and all of its equipment together as one emissions-reducing unit.”

Montana Renewables argued that the state law changes over the last 30 years showed legislative intent to make refineries that added pollution control equipment eligible for certification, as well as biofuels operations.

Dave McAlpin, chair of the Montana Tax Appeal Board told The Electric that the board recently set a schedule for the appeal.

Unless the case is settled or a motion for summary judgment is filed by March 14, 2025, the board will heard the case May 6-9, 2025 in Helena, he said.

Calumet appeals county tax board denial to state [2023]

During an April hearing at the Cascade County Tax Appeal Board, Jennifer Sadler, sales and property tax manager for Calumet, said the company reported their property values to DOR in March 2022.

The company received and paid its assessments that summer.

DOR had initially valued Calumet at $165 million and Montana Renewables at $195 million, Sadler said.

Calumet has two pending tax appeal cases before the state board and during a hearing last fall, Calumet officials said they weren’t protesting the Montana Renewables valuation or taxes.

Calumet asked the county board in April to reject a reappraisal issued by the Department of Revenue last fall for the company’s 2022 taxes after discovering that $79 million of assets had been missed in the initial appraisal.

Calumet settles with EPA over 2019 violations [2023]

The board voted 2-1 to accept the DOR’s revised valuation.

Kim Beatty, a lawyer for Calumet, told the board that Calumet had paid their 2022 taxes without protest though the company didn’t fully agree with the assessment, but said it had been in range with the 2021 agreed upon value.

Phil Murphy for Calumet said that the company agreed to a $355 million valuation in May 2021 for the entire Great Falls facility.

That case has a scheduling conference set for July 2, McAlpine said.

County tax appeal board denies $189.5 million Calumet protest [2023]

Calumet also has a pending tax appeal before the Montana Tax Appeal Board, asking them to override the county tax appeal board’s denial and lower their taxable value for 2023 by about $189 million.

DOR valued Calumet’s land at $118,944; and the buildings, equipment and improvements at $299,428,094 for a total of $299,547,035.

During a November hearing, Calumet asked the Cascade County Tax Appeal Board to lower their valuation for the buildings, equipment and improvements to $109,881,000 for a total of $109,999,944.

That’s a reduction of $189.5 million.

City beginning budget process

The county board denied the request.

In mid-December, Calumet appealed the decision to the Montana Tax Appeal Board as they did in 2018.

McAlpin told The Electric that Calumet is scheduled to update the board by June 18 on this appeal.

The scheduling conference was vacated by stipulation and hasn’t yet been rescheduled since Calumet and DOR are discussing narrowing the issues, settling the case or consolidating the cases, McAlpin said.

County Commission adopts budget [2023}

According to the appeal filed with the state board in December, Calumet is asking for their total valuation to be lowered to $110,000,000.

In their appeal, Calumet states that the county board and the DOR used the incorrect methodology to determine their valuation and that they’d be prepared for a hearing by Sept. 30, 2024.

Until that appeal is finalized, Calumet’s property taxes are held and unusable for the county and city. For the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, city finance officials have said that amounts to roughly $1 million in tax revenue not available to the city for operations.

Local officials waiting for details of potential tax appeal [2023]

During their November hearing, Philip Murphy for Calumet, said that their taxes have quadrupled since the company purchased the refinery in 2012.

He said that in 2012, their taxes were $1.4 million. In 2021, Calumet paid $5.5 million and in 2022, $6.2 million in taxes.

Calumet protested their taxes in 2019, which was a continuation of the 2017-2018 protest case that was settled in 2020.

Dept. of Revenue files appeal over Calumet taxes [2018]

The Montana Department of Revenue set Calumet’s value at $538 million for 2017. In February 2018, the three-person county tax appeal board lowered the value to $312.5 million. Calumet had requested their value be lowered to $190.7 million.

Both Calumet and the DOR appealed that decision to the Montana Tax Appeal Board in 2018.

In 2020, the parties settled and according to DoR, of the roughly $17 million paid by Calumet under protest for tax years 2017-2019, about $9.5 million was released to the local jurisdictions and $1.5 million to the state.

Calumet protests taxes, county tax appeal board lowers taxable value by more than $200 million [2018]

Once the protest was settled, the county issued a refund of $4.7 million to Calumet and milled a special levy to recoup $1.2 million of funds the school district had to pay back to Calumet since they accessed their portion of protested taxes.

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Montana

Montana Supreme Court allows ballot measure on initiative process to move forward

Published

5 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Montana Supreme Court allows ballot measure on initiative process to move forward

HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a proposed ballot measure intended to simplify the process for introducing ballot measures in the future.

Justices ruled 5-2 that the measure, currently called Ballot Issue #8, did not violate state requirements that a single constitutional amendment can’t make multiple separate changes to the Montana Constitution.

“We’re very grateful to the Montana Supreme Court for agreeing with us that the attorney general’s finding of legal insufficiency for Ballot Issue #8 was incorrect,” said SK Rossi, a spokesperson for Montanans Decide, the group sponsoring the measure.

Montanans Decide argues the Montana Legislature has passed laws making it harder for the public to propose and pass ballot issues. The Montana Constitution already guarantees the people the right to pass laws and amendments through ballot measures, but Ballot Issue #8 would expand that to include a right to “impartial, predictable, transparent, and expeditious processes” for proposing those measures. It would seek to prevent “interference from the government or the use of government resources to support or oppose the ballot issue.”

Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office argued the measure “implicitly amended” multiple provisions in the state constitution, including by limiting the “power and authority of public officials to speak officially on ballot issues that affect those officials’ public duties” and by putting restrictions on judges and on the Legislature. Montanans Decide, the group sponsoring Ballot Issue #8, disagreed – and the majority of justices sided with them.

“Its provisions operate together to define and protect a single constitutional right—the people’s exercise of initiative and referendum,” wrote Justice Katherine Bidegaray in the majority opinion. “They are closely related components of one constitutional design.”

Bidegaray’s majority opinion was joined by Justices Jim Shea, Laurie McKinnon, Beth Baker and Ingrid Gustafson.

Chief Justice Cory Swanson and Justice Jim Rice each wrote dissenting opinions, saying they would have upheld Knudsen’s decision to disallow Ballot Issue #8. Rice said the language restricting government interference with a ballot issue was not closely related and should have been a separate vote. Swanson agreed with Rice and said the measure’s attempt to fix a timeline for legal cases surrounding ballot measures was also a separate substantial change.

In a statement, Chase Scheuer, a spokesperson for Knudsen’s office, reacted to the decision.

“This decision only further muddies the courts’ jurisprudence on ballot issue questions,” he said. “This initiative would violate the separate vote requirement by amending multiple parts of the Montana Constitution, but the court contradicted its prior rulings. Attorney General Knudsen will continue to neutrally apply the separate vote requirement in his review of ballot initiatives.”

The court’s decision means that Knudsen’s office will now need to approve ballot language for Ballot Issue #8. Once that language is finalized, Montanans Decide could begin gathering signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

However, last year, sponsors of another initiative went to the Supreme Court to argue that the ballot statements Knudsen prepared were misleading. If Montanans Decide object to their ballot statements, that could further delay signature gathering while the case plays out in court.

“Regardless, we’re going to push as hard as we can to get those petitions into the hands of voters and let them sign and support if they so choose,” said Rossi.

Rossi said the legal battle this measure has gone through – and the possibility of more to come – shows why Ballot Issue #8 is needed.

“The state Legislature, and also statewide elected officials, have taken every opportunity to create burdens and hurdles and rigamarole for campaigns to get through in order to just get to the signature gathering phase, and then to get through the signature gathering phase onto the ballot, and then get through the election phase,” said Rossi. “The reason we filed this initiative is just to make sure that the process is simple, that the timeline is clear, and that Montanans can have their will heard when they want to propose and pass laws that they deem worthy.”

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Montana

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

Published

17 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

HELENA, Mont. — Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is running for Montana’s Western Congressional District seat, entering the race a day after U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke announced he would not seek reelection.

Jacobsen’s announcement sets up a new contest for the open seat after Zinke, a Republican, said he would seek reelection.

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“As your Secretary of State, I’ve stood up to Washington overreach, defended election integrity, and delivered real results for Montanans. In 2020, voters gave me a mandate to clean up our elections, grow Montana business, and push back against radical liberal special interests. I delivered. Now it’s time to take that same results-driven, America First leadership to Congress.”

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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