State has online service for reporting livestock

Montana Department of Revenue

HELENA — Livestock owners can now go online to report the number of livestock they own, the Montana Department of Revenue announced Thursday.

Montana law requires all livestock owners to report by March 1 of each year the number of livestock they owned as of Feb. 1. Livestock owners who report online this year will be able to pull up their history for next year’s report, which will make reporting faster, more efficient, and more accurate.

The secure online service is free to use and can be found at https://app.mt.gov/livestockreporting .

“Even if you own just one horse and have a few chickens, or owned and reported livestock last year but no longer do, you still need to report,” said Cynthia Monteau Moore, administrator for the Department of Revenue’s Property Assessment Division. Livestock per capita fees will be due Nov. 30. The ability to pay these fees online will be available later this year.

Livestock includes all poultry and bees, swine three months of age or older, and all other livestock nine months or age or older including cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules, asses, llamas, alpacas, bison, ostriches, rheas, emus, and domestic ungulates.

Everyone benefits from programs funded by per capita fees. Livestock producers benefit from programs to monitor animal health, monitor and restrict livestock imports, track animal movements, prevent and investigate livestock theft, and manage predators. The general public benefits from programs that prevent the spread of animal diseases to humans.

Livestock owners are welcome to contact the department’s call center at 1-866-859-2254 or, in Helena, 406-444-6900, with any livestock reporting questions.

The online livestock reporting service is the result of an alliance between state government and the private sector. It was cooperatively developed and is supported by the Montana Department of Revenue, the Montana Department of Administration’s State Information Technology Services Division, and Montana Interactive LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of eGovernment provider NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV).

Online reporting improves effectiveness in the delivery of public services, which is a key component of Governor Steve Bullock’s Main Street Montana Project.