House Bill No. introduced by S. Rosenzweig aims to revise the allocation and use of lodging facility use taxes in Montana, specifically to provide funding for county and municipal roads and infrastructure. The bill establishes two new state special revenue accounts: the County Roads and Infrastructure Account and the Municipal Roads and Infrastructure Account. Funds collected from the lodging facility use tax will be deposited into these accounts and distributed to counties and municipalities based on specific formulas. Counties will receive funds based on the previous fiscal year's tax collection, ensuring a minimum of 0.5% and a maximum of 8% of total funds, while municipalities will be allocated funds based on population, with towns under 200 residents considered to have a population of 200 for funding purposes.

The bill also amends existing laws regarding the distribution of tax proceeds, notably deleting the previous allocation of 60.2% of tax proceeds to the Department of Commerce and replacing it with a provision for equal division of remaining funds between the new accounts. Additionally, it introduces statutory appropriations for these accounts and includes a provision to increase certain allocations by one-half of the average rate of inflation over the prior three years each biennium. The legislation specifies an effective date of July 1, 2025, for the new legal language and establishes termination dates for various sections of existing law, with several set to expire between 2025 and 2031.

Statutes affected:
LC Text: 15-65-121, 17-7-502
HB0914_1(1): 15-65-121, 17-7-502
HB0914_1(2): 15-65-121, 17-7-502
HB0914_1(3): 15-65-121, 17-7-502
HB0914_1: 15-65-121, 17-7-502