Calumet Montana Refining said on Oct. 22 that it had reached a settlement with the Montana Department of Revenue over a multi-year tax dispute.

Calumet said it reached an agreement over the “fair market value” of the refinery for tax years 2022-2005 in September.

The DOR has not responded to The Electric seeking confirmation and additional details.

Cascade County Commissioner Joe Briggs told The Electric on Oct. 22 that they had not been notified of the settlement.

Diane Heikkila, county treasurer, told The Electric that her office was working on the details of the settlement and would share more details when she had them.

DEQ, Montana Renewables settle; 50 percent of portion of facility certified tax exempt

Melissa Kinzler, City of Great Falls’ finance director, said during the commission’s Oct. 21 work session that they’d heard there would be a settlement with Calumet but that they hadn’t yet received any numbers.

Great Falls Public Schools officials said they were also working to get more information on the settlement to determine the impact to their budgets.

Calumet said in a release that adjusting taxes for 2022-2024, resulted in the following changes:

• Calumet’s assessed market value increased for 2022 and Calumet will pay more property taxes for that year
• Calumet’s assessed market value decreased in 2023 and 2024 and a refund will be issued for those years
• the net result is an estimated $1.4 million refund, with an exact amount to be determined by Cascade County based on revised valuations

Calumet paid its taxes in full each year and the the protested funds have been held in escrow.

City Commission takes first look at proposed budget

The appeals were before the Montana Tax Appeal Board with hearings scheduled for May 2026, which are still listed on the board’s hearing schedule.

Calumet had filed appeals with the Cascade County Tax Appeal Board for 2022 and 2023 taxes, and in November, the company filed a protest directly to the state rather than the county board asking that its value be dropped from the state’s $222,000,000 valuation to its own assessment of $100,000,000.

“We take our financial obligation to the community seriously and are committed to supporting Cascade County through our fair share of taxes,” Kollin Schade, Calumet’s senior vice president of Montana operations, said in a release. “This reassessment reflects our dedication to transparency, collaboration and long-term investment in Great Falls.”

Hearings are set for Calumet, Montana Renewables tax protests, appeals

Calumet said in a release that it and DOR are jointly developing a master asset list to serve as the foundation for future property tax assessments.

During multiple county tax appeal board meetings and associated documents filed in their appeals, there was disagreement between the refinery and DOR over assets assigned to Calumet that had been missed or duplicated as the company spun off Montana Renewables, or over the valuation methodology used by DOR.

“We appreciate the community’s patience and the cooperation of Calumet while we worked through the review process using very complex appraisal methods. Ultimately, we appraised this property at 100 percent of its market value in accordance with state law,” DOR Deputy Director Scott Mendenhall, said in Calumet’s release.

The current DOR director, Brendan Beatty, is married to Kim Beatty, one of Calumet’s attorney’s on the appeals.

Tony Zammit, DOR’s deputy chief legal counsel, said during an April 2024 hearing that the DOR director had recused himself from tax protests regarding Calumet and delegated authority on that matter to his deputy. The Electric reported that information in April 2024.

County approves 80 percent tax abatement for Calumet

In May, Calumet’s subsidiary, Montana Renewables, settled a case with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality regarding the company’s pollution control certification.

Montana Renewables refuted the DEQ’s decision to certify eight percent of the facility as pollution control equipment, and thereby tax exempt under state law, as opposed to the company’s request to have the entire facility certified as tax exempt.

Under state law, air and water pollution and carbon capture equipment certified as such by DEQ is tax exempt.

Previously, DEQ had approved $24,579,241 of Montana Renewable’s biomass plant as pollution control.

Through the settlement, DEQ approved an additional $42,900,000, bringing 50 percent of the No. 4 hydrogen plant constructed capital cost as pollution control, making it tax exempt.

County approves 80 percent tax abatement for Calumet

The effective date for the 50 percent tax exempt certification is December 2022, according to a letter DEQ sent to Cascade County Commissioners, who discussed the settlement during the June 11 compensation board meeting.

Trista Besich, county finance director, said in June that it’s been difficult to project newly taxable revenue in recent years. Last year, the county’s came in around $6 million, until DOR adjusted those values down about $4 million.

That drop was related to Calumet, Commissioner Joe Briggs said during the June 11 meeting.

City, county officials discussing Calumet abatement request

Briggs said the county will also have to pay back the overcharges for the last few years since DEQ backdated the tax exempt pollution control certification.

Briggs said those funds were held in escrow during the dispute so will be able to return those funds.

City, county officials discussing Calumet abatement request

In October 2024, Calumet indicated in state tax board filings that in was considering protesting its 2024 taxes. The company filed that protest on Nov. 25.

Calumet receives first portion of federal loan funds; Pondera County, resource group ask Calumet to reconsider wastewater disposal plan

City officials said last year that Calumet’s protest of its 2023 taxes meant about $1.1 million being held annually from city revenues until the protest was resolved.

During their May 6 work session, city staff provided a budget update to City Commissioners that will include discussion of the impact to city coffers from the tax protests, which equate to roughly $1 million in the current budget that isn’t accessible for city operations.

Calumet, BNSF proposing train track expansion; city concerned about public access to wastewater plant, West Bank Park

In December, BSNF and Calumet approached the city about expanding the railroad near the refinery that runs by the city’s wastewater treatment plant and West Bank Park that would impact a rail crossing currently used for public access to both of those facilities.

City working on options for gate at railroad crossing BNSF intends to expand for Calumet

The city has issued a design contract for a new gate to restrict access in that area.

School budgets work differently in that they levy to collect a specific dollar amount. When there’s a tax protest, such as Calumet’s, other local taxpayers pay more to make up that difference, according to GFPS officials.

GFPS, County adjusting taxable values after Calumet revision; tax bills delayed [2024]

The county and GFPS will determine the district’s share of taxes that must be returned to Calumet and the county will levy a special assessment to recoup those funds from taxpayers to pay back the district’s share.

GFPS board approves request to access protested Calumet taxes [2024]

In December 2024, Calumet requested a tax abatement under a new state law that required county commissioners to approve either an 80, 90 or 100 percent abatement.

Montana Renewables, Calumet have pending tax appeals before state board [2024]

Earlier this year, Cascade County Commissioners opted for the 80 percent abatement.

In the fall of 2023, the Cascade County Tax Appeal Board voted to deny a request from Calumet asking their taxable value for 2023 to be lowered by about $189  million. Calumet appealed that decision to the state tax board.

Calumet appeals county tax board denial to state [2023]

In the spring of 2024, Calumet asked the county tax board to reject the DOR’s adjustment to their taxable valuation to account for about $79 million in assets that had been missed in the initial appraisal.

Calumet protested their 2017 taxable value from the state that was set at $538 million.

The county tax appeal board lowered the taxable value to $312.5 million. The DOR appealed that decision to the state.

County considering legal services for issuance of municipal bonds for Calumet project [2022]

The protest was settled in 2020 and the city lost about $4 million in tax revenue over that three year period, according to the city.

City approves Calumet tax abatement [2022]

In 2016, Calumet requested a tax abatement that was estimated to be a $6 million loss of property taxes to the city over 10 years. Commissioners denied that request.