Up The Creek Research

Through The Roof

Montana Property Tax Review · a service of Up The Creek Research

Taxes through the roof?Let’s check the math.

We decode your Montana Classification & Appraisal notice, check it against the public record and your neighbors, and tell you in dollars whether an appeal is worth filing — inside the 30-day window.

Email us your notice — from $99See a sample review (PDF)

For Montana property owners — residential, commercial, cabins & land

Why the notice is harder than it looks

The clock is 30 days and it doesn't forgive

Your right to object runs 30 days from the date printed on the notice — not the day you opened the envelope. Most owners don't find out what the notice really means until the window is gone.

The 'reason' on the notice is often boilerplate

We've seen notices labeled "Market Appreciation" where the land value didn't move a dollar — the real change was a new improvement or a statutory rate step. You can't decide whether to fight until someone decomposes the actual numbers.

Part of your increase can't be appealed at all

An appeal can only move the appraised value or the classification. Rate changes set by the legislature are untouchable — and fighting them wastes your one appeal application per 2-year cycle.

What you get

A two-page written review of your notice, typically within 2 business days:

  • A line-by-line decomposition of your notice against the prior year — land, improvements, and classification — with the stated reason code checked against what the numbers actually show.
  • The increase split into what an appeal could recover and what is statutory and untouchable, in dollars per year at your levy district's actual mill rate.
  • A record-card error check (square footage, acreage, classification, improvements that don't exist) and a uniformity comparison against neighboring parcels' assessed values.
  • A plain verdict: appeal or let it stand — and if an appeal is warranted, the evidence checklist and a prepared Form AB-26 informal-review request ready for your signature, with every downstream deadline calendared.

Sometimes the honest answer is “don’t appeal.” You’ll get that answer too — with the math that proves it — instead of paying anyone to chase dollars that aren’t there. This is a factual screening of public records, not legal or tax advice; any appeal is filed in your own name.

Where it earns its fee

Homeowners

Is the jump real appreciation, a phantom improvement, or a homestead-rate claim you never filed? Post-2025, an unfiled homestead application alone can cost a Montana homeowner four figures a year.

Commercial & rental owners

Commercial values ride on mass-appraisal models you never see. We check the value against your income reality and your neighbors — and older buildings often have an economic-obsolescence argument the model missed.

Cabin & second-home owners

The 2025 overhaul moved second homes and short-term rentals to the highest residential rate — up 60%+ for many cabins. We check whether the classification is right and price out your options, including the long-term-rental path back to the lower tiers.

Land & ag owners

Bare land classified wrong is the most expensive mistake on the roll — agricultural classification is taxed on productivity, not market value. We verify the class before arguing about the number.

See a real review

A genuine review from our own files — a Missoula commercial parcel whose 2026 notice claimed “market appreciation.” The numbers said otherwise: the land hadn’t moved a dollar. The review splits the $532/year increase into the part an appeal could touch and the part set by statute — and lands on an honest “don’t appeal,” with the one exception that would change the call.

Download the sample (PDF)

How it works

  1. 1

    Send the notice

    Email photos or a scan of every page of your Classification & Appraisal notice — including page 1, which carries the date that starts your 30-day clock.

  2. 2

    We do the homework

    Record cards, prior-year values, classification codes, neighboring parcels, and the mill levy for your district — decomposed into a two-page written review.

  3. 3

    You decide with numbers

    Appeal or stand down — either way you know what it's worth per year before the window closes. If it's appeal, the AB-26 packet comes ready to sign.

Through The Roof

$99 residential · $299 commercial

Per notice, flat. Turnaround 2 business days — faster when your 30-day deadline is close. Multi-parcel portfolios, ranches, and estates get a custom quote.

Notices arrive statewide every reappraisal cycle — if yours hasn’t landed yet, send it the day it does. The clock starts on the printed date.

Email your notice to get started

We confirm scope and price by reply before any work or payment happens.