§ 15-36-331 — Distribution Of Taxes

15-36-331 . Distribution of taxes. (1) (a) For each calendar quarter, the department shall determine the amount of tax, late payment interest, and penalties collected under this part.
(b) For the purposes of distribution of oil and natural gas production taxes to county and school district taxing units under 15-36-332 and to the state, the department shall determine the amount of oil and natural gas production taxes paid on production in the taxing unit.
(2) (a) The amount of oil and natural gas production taxes collected for the percentage of privilege and license tax established by the board pursuant to 82-11-131 must be deposited, in accordance with the provisions of 17-2-124 , in the account in the state special revenue fund for the purpose of paying expenses of the board, as provided in 82-11-135 .
(b) After the allocation provided for in subsection (2)(a), up to 0.08% of the tax collected pursuant to 15-36-304 (7) must be deposited in the oil and gas natural resource distribution account established in 90-6-1001 (1) for distribution pursuant to 15-36-332 (7).
(c) (i) Except as provided in subsection (2)(c)(ii), any funds remaining after the allocations provided for in subsections (2)(a) and (2)(b) must be deposited in the oil and gas production damage mitigation account as provided in 82-11-161 .
(ii) If the unobligated cash balance in the oil and gas production damage mitigation account equals or exceeds $10 million, then there is no deposit to the oil and gas production damage mitigation account, and the funds must remain in the board's expense account provided for in 82-11-135 as reserves for the board or for legislative transfer for purposes related to the impacts of oil and gas production.
(3) (a) For each tax year, the amount of oil and natural gas production taxes determined under subsection (1)(b) is allocated to each county according to the following schedule:
(b) The oil and natural gas production taxes allocated to each county must be deposited in the state special revenue fund and transferred to each county for distribution, as provided in 15-36-332 .
(4) The department shall, in accordance with the provisions of 17-2-124 , distribute the state portion of oil and natural gas production taxes remaining after the distributions pursuant to subsections (2) and (3) as follows:
(a) 2.16% to the natural resources projects state special revenue account established in 15-38-302 ;
(b) 2.02% to the natural resources operations state special revenue account established in 15-38-301 ;
(c) 2.95% to the orphan share account established in 75-10-743 ;
(d) 2.65% to the state special revenue fund to be appropriated to the Montana university system for the purposes of the state tax levy as provided in 15-10-109 ; and
(e) all remaining proceeds to the state general fund.
(5) A payment required pursuant to this section may be withheld if, for more than 90 days, a local government fails to:
(a) file a financial report required by 15-1-504 ;
(b) remit any amounts collected on behalf of the state as required by 15-1-504 ; or
(c) remit any other amounts owed to the state or another taxing jurisdiction.

Legislative History

En. Sec. 1, Ch. 522, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 18, Ch. 522, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 5, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 527, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 603, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 432, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 475, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 33, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 57, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 173, L. 2017; amd. Sec. 10, Ch. 3, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 414, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 572, L. 2025.