Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 7 > Chapter 6 > Part 16 - Impact Fees to Fund Capital Improvements

• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Capital improvements: means improvements, land, and equipment with a useful life of 10 years or more that increase or improve the service capacity of a public facility. See Montana Code 7-6-1601
• Connection charge: means the actual cost of connecting a property to a public utility system and is limited to the labor, materials, and overhead involved in making connections and installing meters. See Montana Code 7-6-1601
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Development: means construction, renovation, or installation of a building or structure, a change in use of a building or structure, or a change in the use of land when the construction, installation, or other action creates additional demand for public facilities. See Montana Code 7-6-1601
• Governmental entity: means a county, city, town, or consolidated government. See Montana Code 7-6-1601
• Impact fee: means any charge imposed upon development by a governmental entity as part of the development approval process to fund the additional service capacity required by the development from which it is collected. See Montana Code 7-6-1601
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Proportionate share: means that portion of the cost of capital system improvements that reasonably relates to the service demands and needs of the project. See Montana Code 7-6-1601
• Public facilities: means :

  (a)a water supply production, treatment, storage, or distribution facility;

  (b)a wastewater collection, treatment, or disposal facility;

  (c)a transportation facility, including roads, streets, bridges, rights-of-way, traffic signals, and landscaping;

  (d)a storm water collection, retention, detention, treatment, or disposal facility or a flood control facility;

  (e)a police, emergency medical rescue, or fire protection facility; and

  (f)other facilities for which documentation is prepared as provided in 7-6-1602 that have been approved as part of an impact fee ordinance or resolution by:

  (i)a two-thirds majority of the governing body of an incorporated city, town, or consolidated local government; or

  (ii)a unanimous vote of the board of county commissioners of a county government. See Montana Code 7-6-1601

• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Vessel: when used in reference to shipping, includes ships of all kinds, steamboats and steamships, canal boats, and every structure adapted to be navigated from place to place. See Montana Code 1-1-207
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203