Montana AG Opinions — 2006

Cross-county annexation is permitted by Montana law and is not dependent upon county approval.

An urban renewal project consisting in part of property outside a municipality is not permitted under the Urban Renewal Law. Tax increment financing may not be used to support such a project. Since MetraPark does not engage in a “secondary, value-added industry,” financing for infrastructure improvements at MetraPark is not permitted under the Tax Increment Financing Industrial Development Act.

When an employer provides an insurance policy providing prescription drug coverage and other medical services, the Montana unisex insurance law, Mont. Code Ann. § 49-2-309, requires inclusion of coverage for prescription contraceptives and related medical services. When an employee benefit plan provides prescription drug coverage and other medical services, the Montana Human Rights Act, Mont. Code Ann. § 49-2-303, requires inclusion of coverage for prescription contraceptives and related medical services.

A municipality may choose to participate in cooperative purchasing with the Department of Administration of the State of Montana pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. §§ 18-4-401 to -407 without first seeking its own competitive bids as an alternative to the competitive bidding requirements set forth in Mont. Code Ann. § 7-5-4302.

Montana Code Annotated § 61-3-321 (2005), as codified, conflicts with 2005 Mont. Laws, ch. 596, §§ 148 and 149. The coordination instruction found in 2005 Mont. Laws, ch. 596, § 149, incorporated § 148’s prescribed amendment of Mont. Code Ann. § 61-3-321, as further modified in § 149; accordingly, all registration fees imposed under § 61-3-321, as so amended, must be paid if the vehicle to which plates are transferred is not currently registered. Since the codified version of the bills conflicts with the enrolled bill, § 149 as interpreted herein must be given effect over the codified version of Mont. Code Ann. § 61-3-321 (2005).

When the Department of Corrections contracts with a Montana private nonprofit corporation to establish residential methamphetamine treatment programs pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. § 53-1-203(1)(c)(ii), it need not undergo the privatization plan process outlined in Mont. Code Ann. §§ 2-8-302 and 2-8-303.