Montana AG Opinions — 1994

Mont. Code Ann. §§ 50-16-702 and -703 (1993) require a health care facility, whenever a patient transported to it is diagnosed with one of the transmittable infectious diseases designated in Mont. Admin. R.16.30.801, to report that fact back to the designated officer(s) of the emergency medical services provider(s) who assisted the patient, even if no report of exposure was filed with the facility concerning the transported patient and there is no evidence an actual exposure has occurred. A disclosure of certain health care information is specifically provided by law in Mont. Code Ann. §§ 50-16-702 and -703 (1993). The Uniform Health Care Information Act contains an exception for disclosures specifically provided by law. The statutes are not in conflict.

A small, transit-type bus (which is smaller than a greyhound bus but larger than a nine-passenger van) is a “school bus” under Mont. Code Ann. §20-10-101(2) and may not be used to transport students to extracurricular activities unless it meets the 1990 National Standards for School Buses adopted by the Montana Board of Public Education.

The approval of the voters in a rural fire district, following a resolution of its board of directors pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. §15-10-412(10), is sufficient to allow the board of county commissioners to continue to levy taxes in excess of the limitations established in Mont. Code Ann. §§15-10-401 to -412 in following years, without subsequent voter approval each year thereafter, if the voters of the taxing unit have been informed of the amount and the duration of the increase in tax liability.

Investment earnings on funds earmarked to be loaned, but not yet paid out to a loan recipient, are not “payback funds” or loan repayments and therefore may not be credited to the science and technology development account to be used to cover the costs of administering programs of the Montana Science and Technology Financing Act.

School district trustees may transfer any portion of the end-of-the-year general fund balance into the compensated absence liability fund subject to the limitations in Mont. Code Ann. § 20-9-512(4).

Counties are required by law to reimburse the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services for the expenses associated with the computerization of public assistance eligibility determinations.

If the conditions established in Mont. Code Ann. §15-10-412(11)(b)(i) are met, the limitations on the amount of taxes levied which are set forth in Mont. Code Ann. title15, chapter 10, do not apply to either the special one-mill levy under Mont. Code Ann. §50-2-114 or the special five-mill levy under Mont. Code Ann. §50-2-111(2)(b).

Although a county treasurer may not require delinquent SID assessments to be paid in addition to the sale price of tax deed land, the county treasurer must apply the sale proceeds of the land to delinquent SID assessments as provided in Mont. Code Ann. § 7-8-2306.

Mont. Code Ann. §53-2-322 requires nonassumed counties to pay for their proportionate share of administrative costs for protective services, including rent, adequate equipment and supplies. The responsibility of nonassumed counties to pay for their proportionate share of the administrative costs associated with providing protective services in the county, other than the salaries, travel expenses, and indirect costs of employees, is not capped at the amount paid in fiscal year 1987. If the Department of Family Services has presented claims to the nonassumed counties, any action to recover the disputed claims must be filed within six months of the denial of the Department’s claim. Older claims are barred by the statute of limitations.

A joint solid waste management district is a political subdivision for purposes of participating in the self-insurance programs authorized by Mont. Code Ann. §2-9-211. A joint solid waste management district does not have the authority to issue bonds for the purpose of establishing a workers’ compensation self-insurance fund.