Article XII of the 1889 Constitution created the Montana State Board of Equalization. Under this article, the Board was composed of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, the State Auditor, and the Attorney General. Their duties included adjusting and equalizing the valuation of taxable property in existing counties, to oversee county boards of equalization, and to perform other duties as assigned by law. In 1923, the Board was reorganized by a consitutional ammendment. The new State Board of Equalization consisted of three members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate; members were appointed for terms of six years. The reorganized Board was responsible for additional duties. These duties included annually assessing the property of all railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, and electrical lines; adjusting the valuation of county property; supervising the administration of state tax laws; investigating and holding hearings on all suspected cases of non-compliance with state revenue laws; and recommending legislation for the better administration of fiscal laws.
The 1972 Constitution did not reinstate the State Board of Equalization and it was, consequently, disbanded. The duties of the Board were taken over by the Department of Revenue and the State Tax Appeal Board.
These records (1896-1972) consist of general correspondence, including opinions of the Attorney General; outgoing correspondence of the Chairman of the Board; financial records, including assesments of railroads and records of apportionments of assessments of railroads; legal documents, including a transcript of a hearing on beer licenses; minutes; press releases; reports; and speeches.
The collection is arranged by series.
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Library & Archives does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
In 2025, the various collections of the Montana Department of Revenue were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 504, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from Department of Revenue's Divisions/Boards/Predecessor Agencies that were
previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information is available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection