Lincoln County homeowners pay a median of $1,615 a year in property tax on a median home value of $296,500. Its effective tax rate (property taxes paid as a share of home values, per the Tax Foundation) is 0.50%, the 38th highest of 56 Montana counties. In Montana the state Department of Revenue values homes, not the county. Lincoln County is served by this office: Montana Department of Revenue, Libby Field Office. Appeals go to the Lincoln County Tax Appeal Board, a local board that is not part of the Department of Revenue.
Closed for 2026Closed for most homeowners. The last chance to challenge 2026 values (June 1, 2026) has passed; new appraisal notices for the 2027-2028 cycle are expected in 2027, and you will have 30 days from the date on that notice. If you received a new notice or a homestead-rate denial recently, you have 30 days from its date.
You have 30 days from the date printed on your Classification and Appraisal Notice. Within that time you can either send Form AB-26 to the DOR for an informal review, or appeal straight to the County Tax Appeal Board by filing Form MTAB-401 with the county clerk and recorder. If you used AB-26, you then have 30 days from the date on the DOR's decision letter to appeal to the county board. If you miss the 30 days, you can still file an AB-26 or a county board appeal until June 1 of the second year of the cycle, but any change applies only to that second year. You get one appeal per property per 2-year cycle. Example: Yellowstone County's tax appeal board tells owners they have 30 days from the date on the notice, and until June 1 of the second year for a second-year-only review; for the 2025-2026 cycle that late date was June 1, 2026.
Phone: 406-283-3095
Email: [email protected]
Official website: revenue.mt.gov
The Department of Revenue field office can explain how your value was set, fix errors in your property record and handle Form AB-26 informal reviews.
In a reappraisal year the DOR mails every owner a Classification and Appraisal Notice. In 2025 these went out starting in late June. It is not a tax bill. In the second year of a cycle you get a new notice only if something changed, such as ownership, classification or value. Tax bills come later from the county treasurer, usually in late summer or fall; the first half is due November 30 (or 30 days after the bill is postmarked, if later).
Look up your home on the Montana Department of Revenue, Libby Field Office website and check square footage, bathrooms, condition and features. Mistakes are the easiest wins. Use our record card checklist.
Within 30 days of the date on your appraisal notice, or of the Department of Revenue's AB-26 decision, file Form MTAB-401 with the Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder. In the second year of a cycle you can still file by June 1, but a change then applies to that year only.
Sales of similar nearby homes close to the valuation date (January 1, 2024 for the 2025-2026 cycle); later sales can be rejected; An independent appraisal that meets Montana standards and is dated within 6 months of the valuation date; Your own purchase price, if you bought within about 6 months of the valuation date in an arm's-length sale; Corrections to your property record card (size, bedrooms, baths, quality, condition) with photos.
The DOR's value is presumed correct, and you must prove it is wrong, by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). The boards must consider an independent appraisal that meets Montana appraisal standards and was done within 6 months of the valuation date. At MTAB such an appraisal on a home is presumed to set the value unless the DOR rebuts it with strong evidence, such as its own appraisal.
Next step: Montana Tax Appeal Board (MTAB). By law, the later of 45 days after the county board hearing or 30 days after the county board mails its decision. The MTAB form says MTAB must receive your appeal within 30 days of when you received the county decision, so file within 30 days to be safe. File Form MTAB-801 with the Montana Tax Appeal Board in Helena, attach your county appeal form and the county decision, and send a copy to the DOR. You must have attended the county hearing. After a scheduling call, hearings are usually held in person at the MTAB office in Helena and take about two hours; other arrangements are possible for hardship. Homeowners may choose an informal MTAB review instead, but then neither side can appeal to court. Otherwise MTAB decisions can be taken to district court within 60 days.
The official appeal form is MTAB-401: Appeal to the County Tax Appeal Board.
Open Form MTAB-401Enter the market value on your assessment notice and what you think the home would really sell for. We estimate the yearly saving if the board agrees with you.
Some states cap how fast the taxable value of a home can rise (California, Florida, Michigan and Texas homesteads, for example). If your taxable value is already held below market value by a cap, a lower market value may not lower this year's bill.
Fill in your details and download a written appeal statement as a PDF or Word file. Most boards also require their own appeal form: file the form and attach this letter and your evidence to it.
Tax Appeal Map is a free information site, not a law firm or appraiser. The letter is a template, not legal advice.
You have 30 days from the date printed on your Classification and Appraisal Notice. Within that time you can either send Form AB-26 to the DOR for an informal review, or appeal straight to the County Tax Appeal Board by filing Form MTAB-401 with the county clerk and recorder. If you used AB-26, you then have 30 days from the date on the DOR's decision letter to appeal to the county board. If you miss the 30 days, you can still file an AB-26 or a county board appeal until June 1 of the second year of the cycle, but any change applies only to that second year. You get one appeal per property per 2-year cycle. Example: Yellowstone County's tax appeal board tells owners they have 30 days from the date on the notice, and until June 1 of the second year for a second-year-only review; for the 2025-2026 cycle that late date was June 1, 2026.
File Form MTAB-401 with the Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder for the Lincoln County Tax Appeal Board within 30 days of your appraisal notice or AB-26 decision; for an informal review instead, send Form AB-26 to the Department of Revenue.
Phone 406-283-3095. Website: revenue.mt.gov.
No filing fee is listed on the form.
Contact details change; call or check the office website before you visit.