Representative George Nikolicakos, sponsor of House Bill 831, told the Appropriations Committee the bill would increase the state’s elderly homeowner/renter tax credit (commonly called the 2EC) and expand eligibility thresholds to provide property‑tax relief to more low‑income seniors. “8 31 adds 3,300 Montanans to property tax relief rolls,” the sponsor said, summarizing the bill’s estimated coverage.

As written, HB 831 proposes to increase the program’s maximum credit from $1,150 to $1,400 and to raise the program’s gross household income exclusion from $12,600 to $14,100. The sponsor also described changes to the step multipliers and phase‑out that, he said, make the program less “cliff‑like” and more graduated.

Dylan Cole of the Department of Revenue appeared as an informational witness and explained major assumptions used in the fiscal note. Cole said the department’s estimate adjusts for the fact that rebate data does not capture all elderly homeowner‑credit filers and that the fiscal note increases the sample estimate by 10% to reflect under‑capture (the fiscal note assumes 90% of credit claimants were present in the rebate sample). He also explained that the department applied the current owner/renter split for program participants to project how new eligibility would distribute benefits between homeowners and renters.

Committee members asked why some eligible households do not claim the credit and whether the program’s household income definition includes non‑taxable income such as Social Security benefits. Cole said the program’s household income calculation includes non‑taxable income and that uptake can be limited by awareness and filing behavior; he described operational challenges in matching rebate data to tax returns.

Sponsor estimates and fiscal note assumptions attributed to the bill include: an increase of roughly 3,000–3,300 participants and an added general fund cost in the low millions (the sponsor cited $2.7 million as the projected fiscal impact from the primary changes as written). The sponsor and DOR staff agreed the numbers are estimates and that adjustments to the bill’s brackets or multipliers could reduce cost.

Representative Nikolicakos closed by urging the committee to include HB 831 as part of a broader package of property‑tax relief measures.

Ending: The committee closed the HB 831 hearing after informational testimony and questions; no committee vote appears in the hearing transcript.