Tempel discusses bills moving through the Legislature

Montana Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, talked Friday during a Havre legislative videoconference from Helena about several bill that he has seen in committee and listened to community input on bills that are being debated in the Legislature.

Tempel said that many legislators had come back for the first time Friday after the week-long transmittal, the day mostly being spent working on committee items.

Montana Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta, who came in at the end of the videoconference, said that all of the committees are working hard to finish the remaining work that needs to be done in the Senate, and after all of the Senate items are completed they will begin working with some of the bills that were passed in the House.

Tempel said one of the bills being worked on in the Senate is Senate Bill 239 by Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, which is an act exempting certain fiber optic facilities from property taxation.

He said this exemption will be for a five-year period, and can be renewed to 20, 40 and so on up to 110 years. This bill is similar to the exemption permitted by the counties for new and expanding businesses, although, he said, this would not be a 50 percent exemption but a full 100 percent.

Tempel said the bad thing he saw with the bill, after hearing from Triangle Communications Chief Executive Officer Craig Gates, is that companies, such as Triangle, have already put in approximately 61 to 62 percent of the planned fiber optic lines in the ground. Although they would still benefit from this bill, he said, it would be significantly less than some of the co-op communications companies that have just begun installing fiber optic lines. He added that it would have been a large benefit to these companies if this bill was passed in the beginning.

Tempel said this bill was discussed for three to four hours in the Senate Taxation Committee Friday.

“It was really entertaining, so to speak,” he said.

Hill County Commissioner Michael Wendland said that after speaking to the Hill County Clerk and Recorder’s Office he wanted to speak to Tempel about Senate Bill 162, the primary sponsor of which is Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings.

This bill is an act generally revising election laws relating to absentee and mail ballots by revising the timelines for the handling of these ballots. The bill would allow administrators to verify the validity of certain ballots up to three business days before election day and allow tabulation of certain ballots to begin a day before Election Day.

Wendland said that this bill would not generally affect smaller counties but would be a great benefit to larger counties.

“(The clerk and recorder’s office) certainly supports that,” he said.

He added that another bill brought to his attention by the clerk and recorder’s office was House Bill 126, which is sponsored by Rep. Geraldine Custer, R-Forsyth.

The bill was passed out of the House and had its first reading in the Senate Jan. 31 before being assigned to the Senate State Administration Committee, with its first reading scheduled Feb. 18.

The bill is an act revising the fees charged for birth certificates and death certificates by county clerk and recorders.

“They support it but do not think it is the best thing that was ever written out,” he added.

The Hill County treasurer’s office also brought another bill to his attention, he said, Senate Bill 253, sponsored by Sen. Cary Smith, R-Billings.

The bill would generally revise tax liens and tax deed laws and processing for residential property with a dwelling, providing that tax liens are only attached if delinquent taxes exceed $1,000. This bill would also remove the requirement that the current taxes be paid before delinquent taxes, provided that the tax lien will be assigned at the auction to the person requesting the lowest interest rate.

It would also require the assignee to apply to the county treasurer for a tax deed, provided that the tax deed be auctioned off to the highest bidder. This bill was passed through the Senate and has a hearing scheduled in the House Taxation Committee March 20.

Wendland said there are numerous issues with this bill, and the county could possibly lose money in taxes as well as some other concerns resulting from this bill.

Tempel said he voted against the bill, although it still passed, and that county treasurer offices should contact their representatives with their concerns and try to kill the bill on the House floor.

“It floated through the Senate without anybody paying attention or making note of that, so you might get a hold of the House people and see what could be straightened out with that,” he said.

Tempel added that if there are any other concerns from the public they should contact him through his email. He said people should state in the subject of the email where they are from and what their main concern is so he can recognize it quickly and be able to respond in a timely manner.