(1) Property taxpayers meeting the requirements of the intangible land value property tax assistance program, as described in 15-6-240, MCA, may submit an application for assistance to the department. The application form is available on the department's web site at revenue.mt.gov.

(2) Applications must be submitted by March 1 in order to be considered for the current tax year as provided in 15-6-240, MCA.

(3) Qualifying applicants shall affirm that the property owned and maintained by the applicant is the applicant's primary residence. If verification is necessary, the applicant may demonstrate they meet this requirement with such indicators including, but not limited to:

(a) the mailing address for receipt of bills and correspondence;

(b) the address on file with the applicant's employer as the place of residence; or

(c) the mailing address listed on the applicant's federal and state tax returns, driver's license, car registration, hunting and fishing licenses, or voter registration.

(4) Qualifying applicants must provide documentation that the land for which the applicant is seeking assistance has been owned by the applicant or a family member of the applicant within three degrees of consanguinity (ancestral line of descent) for at least 30 consecutive years. Acceptable types of documentation include, but are not limited to:

(a) property deeds showing ownership of the land;

(b) property tax records indicating ownership in the name of the applicant;

(c) bills of sale indicating ownership in the name of the applicant; or

(d) documents showing the transfer of the land from one degree of consanguinity to the next degree.

(5) Computation of the degree of consanguinity is calculated as follows:

(a) The degree of relationship by consanguinity between an individual and the individual's descendant is determined by the number of generations that separate them.

(b) If an individual and the individual's relative are related by consanguinity, but neither is descended from the other, the degree of relationship is determined by adding:

(i) the number of generations between the individual and the nearest common ancestor of the individual and the individual's relative; and

(ii) the number of generations between the relative and the nearest common ancestor.

(c) An individual's relatives within the third degree of consanguinity are the individual's:

(i) parent or child (relatives in the first degree);

(ii) brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild (relatives in the second degree); and

(iii) great-grandparent, great-grandchild, aunt who is a sister of a parent of the individual, uncle who is a brother of a parent of the individual, nephew who is a child of a brother or sister of the individual, or niece who is a child of a brother or sister of the individual (relatives in the third degree).

(6) As described in 15-6-240, MCA, if the department's appraised value of the land is greater than 150 percent of the appraised value of the primary residence and improvements situated on the land, then the land is valued at 150 percent of the appraised value of the primary residence and improvements, subject to the following:

(a) The subject property will not qualify if the land value is less than the statewide average of the land multiplied by the acreage of land of the subject property.

(b) Parcels of land exceeding five acres in size do not qualify unless the department's appraised value of the first five acres which support the primary residential improvements is greater than 150 percent of the appraised value of the primary residence and improvements situated on the land. In such cases, any land in excess of five acres remains valued at its market value.

(7) For the purpose of administering (6), the department determines the statewide average value of land to be the average market value per acre of all taxable class four residential land that is valued using the acre market land valuation models. The average market value per acre is calculated by taking the total appraised value of all taxable class four residential land valued using the acre land valuation models divided by the total acreage of all taxable class four residential land valued using the acre land valuation models.

(8) Qualifying applicants are required to reapply for the intangible land value property tax assistance program each property valuation cycle. The supporting documentation outlined in (4) may be required with reapplications.