(1) Sections 15-6-301, 15-6-302, 15-6-305, 15-6-311, and 15-6-312, MCA, provide property tax relief to fixed or limited income homeowners, qualified disabled veterans, and qualified veterans' spouses.

(2) The department annually adjusts the PTAP and MDV programs base year qualifying income levels provided in 15-6-305 and 15-6-311, MCA, respectively, for the effects of inflation.

(a) Sections 15-6-301, 15-6-305, and 15-6-311, MCA, specify that the implicit price deflator (price index) for personal consumption expenditures (PCE), published in the national income and product accounts by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is to be used in the calculation of the inflation factor.

(b) Each income figure in the base year income schedule is multiplied by the inflation factor calculated for the tax year in question in order to update the schedule. The product is then rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount. If the adjustment results in a decrease in qualifying income levels from the previous year, the qualifying income levels must remain the same for that year.

(3) The department shall adjust the market value limit for residential real property for inflation after each two-year reappraisal cycle in accordance with 15-6-305, MCA. The department will finalize the market value limit by rounding it to the nearest $1,000.

(4) The department will publish PTAP and MDV qualifying income levels and market value limit annually on the department's website at http://www.mtrevenue.gov.