O'Brien v. MT Dept. of Revenue

Summary

The Court held that the Montana Tax Appeal Board properly considered the taxpayers’ appraisal and denied summary judgment, but exceeded the proper scope of an appeal from the county tax appeal board by treating the absence of department model data as dispositive. Because the taxpayers supplied sufficient and relevant income information, the Department was required to use the income approach, and the prior county decision remained binding regarding separate income valuation of the basements absent a relevant property or circumstance change. The Court therefore reinstated the county board’s income-based valuations and remanded for implementation.