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your homegrown newspaper January 15, 2025
Vol. 21, No. 18
Montana’s agricultural tax rules slash bills for thousands of million-dollar homes Snowpack pg. 5
FLIC
pg. 14
Sports pg. 16
Properties classified as agricultural get a tax break worth hundreds or thousands of dollars annually. Lawmakers could tighten qualification requirements this year.
by Nick Bowlin, High Country News and Eric Dietrich, Montana Free Press
O
n the banks of the Flathead River, along an oxbow southeast of Kalispell, a pair of million-dollar homes sit adjacent to each other on large lots. At a glance, they appear quite similar, each the sort of rural dream house that has become an inescapable part of Montana’s landscape. A look at their tax bills, though, reveals a difference, the result of a singular quirk of Montana’s
MARTY HENSEL PHOTO
A red Mission Valley barn stands out in a snow covered landscape. Loopholes in tax codes aimed to encourage farming and ranching and preserve Montana's agricultural character have benefitted thousands of luxury real estate properties.
tax code. One of the two parcels, like most homes in Montana, is classified as residential property. The other, however, is designated agricultural, a category that qualifies it for a tax discount worth thousands of dollars a year.
The residential property includes a 2,893-square-foot house and several outbuildings on a 10-acre lot. In 2023, the land was worth $585,000 and the buildings just over $1 million, according to state records. The property tax bill was w w w.va l le yj our na l.net
about $9,100. Next door, the agricultural property, also 10 acres, contains a 3,673-square-foot home along with garages, a dock and other structures, together valued at $1.2 million. A Zillow listing, which indicates that the
property was last sold in 2018 and was later available for rent, describes it as a “gorgeous Montana river estate” with a boathouse, a putting green and an orchard. This property’s 2023 tax bill, see page 2