Montana homeowners who want the reduced Homestead property tax rate on their 2027 bill have until March 1, 2027 to enroll, the state Department of Revenue says. The window opened May 4, 2026. The stakes show in this year’s numbers: the department reports that homeowners who received a cut saved an average of more than $500, and many owners may already be enrolled without knowing it.
What did the 2026 cut save Montana homeowners?
Gov. Greg Gianforte announced in November that nearly 80% of Montana homes would see a tax cut from the property tax reforms, and that about 10% would see flat bills. The Department of Revenue repeated those figures in a February 26 notice and added the number that matters most to a household budget: the average savings for homeowners with a cut was more than $500.
That average leaves out the rebate. The department says eligible homeowners can also receive a rebate of up to $400, and it reports that more than 235,000 Montana homeowners claimed and received a property tax rebate in 2025. The $500 average and the rebate are separate figures in the department’s notice, so neither one explains the other. The $500 describes 2026 bills, and no 2027 savings figure accompanies the enrollment window.
Is the home already enrolled for 2027?
Some owners do not have to do anything. The department’s enrollment page says a principal residence may be automatically enrolled for the Homestead rate because the owner received a 2025 tax rebate. When the department described the same automatic enrollment in February, it applied to owners who did not move or change ownership in 2025.
Automatic enrollment covers the principal residence only. The department says any other dwelling on the property must be enrolled separately as a long-term rental to get the reduced rate on that unit. An owner who rents out a second building on the same parcel could be enrolled on one structure and paying the standard rate on the other.
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Owners can check their status with the department’s Verify Your Enrollment tool, which runs on the Orion Data Portal. The tool needs the property’s geocode, and the department points to a Cadastral step-by-step guide for finding it. Anyone who cannot find a match well before March 1 is better off enrolling than assuming, since the department’s homestead page lets owners enroll online and request a review if an application is denied.
What does the Homestead rate require?
The department says the owner must live in the property at least seven months of the year and be current on property taxes. Individuals, couples and grantor revocable trusts can own a homestead. LLCs, corporations, partnerships and irrevocable trusts cannot, which closes the door on homes held through those structures.
A home held by an LLC is not out of luck entirely. Long-term rentals follow different rules: the home must be rented to tenants for stretches of 28 days or more, for at least seven months of the year, as the tenant’s residence. Owners of those rentals can include LLCs, corporations and irrevocable trusts, along with individuals, couples and grantor trusts.
The department lists 2026 property tax rates in four tiers, and each slice of market value is taxed at its own rate. The first $378,000 is taxed at 0.76%, the slice from $378,001 to $756,000 at 0.90%, the slice from $756,001 to $1,511,999 at 1.10%, and anything above $1,512,000 at 1.90%.
Eligible long-term rentals include single-family homes, townhomes, condos, manufactured homes and multi-family properties. In February the department said applicants must provide the property’s physical address, geocode, owner information and rental income and expenses, so the paperwork for a rental is heavier than for a homestead.
Owners who were denied can ask for an informal review through the enrollment page. Those who missed the reduced rate for 2026 may qualify for a 2026 Property Tax Refund, which the department describes on a separate refund page. The department’s Helena office answers questions at (406) 444-6900.
Will the enrollment portal hold up before March 1?
The last deadline did move. In February the department extended the application deadline for the Homestead and long-term rental rates to March 20, 2026, after the online portal had intermittent problems from a high volume of last-minute filings. People could apply online by midnight that day or mail a paper application postmarked on or before it.
Revenue Director Brendan Beatty said at the time, “We believe this has created extenuating circumstances that allow us to waive the application deadline until March 20.” The department’s page for 2027 shows March 1, 2027 as the end of the window and mentions no extension.
The 2026 jam came from late filers, and the 2027 window has been open since May 4, which leaves roughly four months from today. Households with a second dwelling on the property are the clearest case, since the department says those units are not covered by automatic enrollment.
The open question for any Montana owner is whether the home shows as enrolled in the verification tool before March 1, 2027, and whether every dwelling on the property is covered.
Is the 2027 Homestead rate locked in?
A home that is not enrolled by March 1, 2027 misses the reduced Homestead rate on the 2027 bill, and a second dwelling that was never enrolled as a long-term rental can slip through the same way. After a portal jam and a deadline that had to be extended last winter, waiting for the final week is a poor bet.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit puts the dates in one place with an application log and renewal calendar, and it lays out the 5 kinds of property-tax relief so a Montana owner can see what else might apply. Part 7, The Yearly Routine, walks through the repeat filings that keep a break from lapsing.
Track every property-tax deadline with the relief kit’s application log and renewal calendar →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
