Where the money comes from and where it goes.
State and county government finances from the state’s own reports. Different years and measures are kept apart.
Fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025), audited actuals, all governmental funds (ACFR, governmental funds)
Total revenue $10.1B · total spending $9.4B (exact figures in the tables). Revenue and spending are separate measures; budgeted and audited years are separate records and are never compared as one.
| Licenses and permits | $523,631,000.00 |
| Natural resource taxes | $238,521,000.00 |
| Individual income tax | $2,292,065,000.00 |
| Corporate income tax | $319,971,000.00 |
| Property taxes | $456,527,000.00 |
| Fuel taxes | $283,764,000.00 |
| Other taxes | $607,329,000.00 |
| Charges for services, fines, forfeitures and settlements | $164,869,000.00 |
| Investment earnings | $459,770,000.00 |
| Securities lending income | $7,784,000.00 |
| Sales of documents, merchandise and property | $17,149,000.00 |
| Rentals, leases and royalties | $96,150,000.00 |
| Contributions and premiums | $35,968,000.00 |
| Grants, contracts and donations (non-federal) | $66,078,000.00 |
| Federal revenue | $4,339,884,000.00 |
| Federal indirect cost recoveries | $177,835,000.00 |
| Other revenues | $8,083,000.00 |
| General government | $1,200,808,000.00 |
| Public safety | $586,871,000.00 |
| Transportation | $474,402,000.00 |
| Health and human services | $3,695,806,000.00 |
| Education | $1,792,404,000.00 |
| Natural resources | $674,933,000.00 |
| Debt service: principal | $30,534,000.00 |
| Debt service: interest and fiscal charges | $4,603,000.00 |
| Capital outlay | $981,777,000.00 |
| Securities lending (costs) | $6,123,000.00 |
Fiscal year 2027 (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027), enacted budget: general fund revenue estimate and HB 2 general fund appropriations (enacted budget)
Total revenue $3.4B · total spending $2.6B (exact figures in the tables). Revenue and spending are separate measures; budgeted and audited years are separate records and are never compared as one.
| Individual income tax | $2,148,845,000.00 |
| Corporation income tax | $338,414,000.00 |
| Vehicle taxes and fees | $128,052,000.00 |
| Oil and natural gas production tax | $70,950,000.00 |
| Insurance tax and license fees | $134,673,000.00 |
| Video gambling tax | $89,186,000.00 |
| Driver's license fee | $5,870,000.00 |
| Investment license fee | $22,850,000.00 |
| Lodging taxes | $50,080,000.00 |
| Public contractors tax | $4,231,000.00 |
| Railroad car tax | $4,054,000.00 |
| Rental car sales tax | $8,049,000.00 |
| Telecommunications excise tax | $7,550,000.00 |
| Coal severance tax | $11,169,000.00 |
| Electrical energy tax | $5,512,000.00 |
| Metalliferous mines tax | $6,968,000.00 |
| U.S. mineral royalties | $13,446,000.00 |
| Wholesale energy tax | $3,317,000.00 |
| Coal trust interest | $22,481,000.00 |
| Treasury cash account interest | $79,005,000.00 |
| Beer tax | $2,709,000.00 |
| Cigarette tax | $18,188,000.00 |
| Liquor excise and license tax | $37,974,000.00 |
| Liquor profits | $23,000,000.00 |
| Lottery profits | $20,687,000.00 |
| Marijuana tax | $34,727,000.00 |
| Tobacco tax | $5,187,000.00 |
| Wine tax | $2,582,000.00 |
| All other revenue | $49,400,000.00 |
| Highway patrol fines | $3,515,000.00 |
| Nursing facilities fee | $3,644,000.00 |
| Public institution reimbursements | $5,936,000.00 |
| Tobacco settlement | $2,622,000.00 |
| General government | $181,200,840.00 |
| Health and human services | $868,276,638.00 |
| Natural resources and transportation | $58,979,317.00 |
| Judicial branch, law enforcement and justice | $486,519,657.00 |
| Education | $971,902,348.00 |
County governments, fiscal year 2021-22 (Census of Governments; fiscal year ended June 30, 2022)
| Beaverhead | $15,342,000.00 | $13,017,000.00 | $6,394,000.00 | 9,738 | $1,336.72 |
| Big Horn | $19,036,000.00 | — | $15,189,000.00 | 12,873 | — |
| Blaine | — | — | — | 6,948 | — |
| Broadwater | $9,503,000.00 | $8,247,000.00 | $4,240,000.00 | 7,794 | $1,058.12 |
| Carbon | — | — | — | 11,237 | — |
| Carter | $10,013,000.00 | $8,507,000.00 | $6,895,000.00 | 1,400 | $6,076.43 |
| Cascade | $69,195,000.00 | — | $42,563,000.00 | 84,908 | — |
| Chouteau | — | — | — | 5,913 | — |
| Custer | $13,240,000.00 | $13,041,000.00 | $7,660,000.00 | 11,997 | $1,087.02 |
| Daniels | — | — | — | 1,641 | — |
| Dawson | $20,383,000.00 | $19,914,000.00 | $7,583,000.00 | 8,796 | $2,263.98 |
| Deer Lodge | — | — | — | 9,529 | — |
| Fallon | — | — | — | 3,047 | — |
| Fergus | $12,761,000.00 | $14,672,000.00 | $7,713,000.00 | 11,662 | $1,258.10 |
| Flathead | $117,936,000.00 | $110,451,000.00 | $60,420,000.00 | 111,687 | $988.93 |
| Gallatin | $119,594,000.00 | $93,668,000.00 | $72,565,000.00 | 124,713 | $751.07 |
| Garfield | — | — | — | 1,220 | — |
| Glacier | — | — | — | 13,609 | — |
| Golden Valley | — | — | — | 842 | — |
| Granite | — | — | — | 3,488 | — |
| Hill | — | — | — | 16,066 | — |
| Jefferson | — | — | — | 12,846 | — |
| Judith Basin | $5,274,000.00 | $5,518,000.00 | $3,379,000.00 | 2,086 | $2,645.25 |
| Lake | $30,612,000.00 | $31,736,000.00 | $18,268,000.00 | 32,801 | $967.53 |
| Lewis and Clark | $79,323,000.00 | $69,122,000.00 | $46,549,000.00 | 73,664 | $938.34 |
| Liberty | $5,595,000.00 | $5,307,000.00 | $2,782,000.00 | 1,969 | $2,695.28 |
| Lincoln | — | — | — | 21,457 | — |
| Madison | $32,402,000.00 | $30,447,000.00 | $15,787,000.00 | 9,240 | $3,295.13 |
| McCone | $4,426,000.00 | $4,320,000.00 | $2,489,000.00 | 1,714 | $2,520.42 |
| Meagher | $4,630,000.00 | $4,352,000.00 | $2,132,000.00 | 2,029 | $2,144.90 |
| Mineral | — | — | — | 5,044 | — |
| Missoula | — | — | — | 120,859 | — |
| Musselshell | — | — | — | 5,198 | — |
| Park | $22,353,000.00 | $22,498,000.00 | $11,967,000.00 | 17,790 | $1,264.64 |
| Petroleum | $1,774,000.00 | $1,832,000.00 | $714,000.00 | 521 | $3,516.31 |
| Phillips | $8,083,000.00 | $8,753,000.00 | $3,299,000.00 | 4,216 | $2,076.14 |
| Pondera | — | — | $5,602,000.00 | 6,094 | — |
| Powder River | $14,295,000.00 | $12,628,000.00 | $2,327,000.00 | 1,728 | $7,307.87 |
| Powell | — | — | — | 7,054 | — |
| Prairie | $2,882,000.00 | $3,035,000.00 | $1,480,000.00 | 1,113 | $2,726.86 |
| Ravalli | $40,937,000.00 | $41,556,000.00 | $23,078,000.00 | 47,123 | $881.86 |
| Richland | — | — | — | 11,174 | — |
| Roosevelt | — | — | — | 10,504 | — |
| Rosebud | — | — | — | 8,107 | — |
| Sanders | $18,456,000.00 | $13,539,000.00 | $8,213,000.00 | 13,373 | $1,012.41 |
| Sheridan | $10,781,000.00 | $9,623,000.00 | $5,939,000.00 | 3,555 | $2,706.89 |
| Silver Bow | — | — | — | 35,822 | — |
| Stillwater | — | — | — | 9,186 | — |
| Sweet Grass | $11,824,000.00 | $9,141,000.00 | $7,498,000.00 | 3,728 | $2,451.98 |
| Teton | — | — | — | 6,343 | — |
| Toole | — | — | — | 5,061 | — |
| Treasure | $1,817,000.00 | $1,871,000.00 | $1,222,000.00 | 754 | $2,481.43 |
| Valley | — | — | — | 7,558 | — |
| Wheatland | $8,093,000.00 | $3,989,000.00 | $5,676,000.00 | 2,049 | $1,946.80 |
| Wibaux | $6,782,000.00 | $4,919,000.00 | $4,596,000.00 | 922 | $5,335.14 |
| Yellowstone | $119,634,000.00 | $115,343,000.00 | $85,325,000.00 | 169,743 | $679.52 |
Revenue, spending and property tax come from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 Census of Governments: Finance individual unit file, the latest year that canvasses every government; they are actual results for fiscal year 2021-22 (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022). No Montana state agency publishes county revenues and spending as a table that can be downloaded: the Department of Administration's Local Government Services Bureau collects each county's annual financial report and budget and posts them one by one on its public portal, and the Legislative Fiscal Division shows the trial-balance figures in an interactive Power BI dashboard with no file to download (see gaps). Each row is the county government only. Cities, towns, school districts and special districts inside the county are separate governments and are not included, except Deer Lodge County (Anaconda-Deer Lodge County) and Silver Bow County (Butte-Silver Bow), consolidated city-county governments that are one government for the county and its city, so they also carry city services. revenue_total = all revenue Census records for the government (taxes, charges, state and federal aid, interest and other general revenue, utility and insurance-trust revenue); it excludes borrowing and transfers between the county's own funds. spending_total = all expenditure (current operations, capital outlay, interest, assistance and payments to other governments); it excludes repayment of debt principal. property_tax = property tax revenue (Census code T01), the county government's own levy; it is part of revenue_total, not an addition. Revenue, spending and property tax are separate measures and are never added together. These are actual results as reported to Census, on Census's classification, not the counties' audited fund statements. A figure is left empty when more than 10% of its dollars are Census estimates (imputations); Census's estimate is kept, labeled, under census_imputed. Population is the Census Bureau's July 1, 2022 estimate (Vintage 2025); population_2025 is the July 1, 2025 estimate from the same release. 34 of the 56 county governments were also in the Census 2024 Annual Survey (a sample) and have a separate fy2024 block: a different year, never mixed with or compared to 2022 on the page. Spending per resident is our division of the county’s reported spending by its population.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Census of Governments: Finance, individual unit file (Montana's 54 county governments and 2 consolidated city-county governments; thousands of dollars); U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, individual unit files (a sample); U.S. Census Bureau, county population estimates, Vintage 2025 (co-est2025-alldata); Montana Department of Administration, State Financial Services Division, Local Government Services Bureau page (annual financial reports, budgets and the public portal; checked, not used for figures); Montana Department of Administration, Local Government Services Bureau, Annual Financial Reports page (checked, not used for figures); Montana Legislative Fiscal Division, LFD Local Government Dashboard Update Schedule (December 2025; describes the Power BI dashboard of local government trial-balance data, FY 2018 on; checked, not used for figures); Montana Legislative Fiscal Division, Local Government library page (reports and definitions; no county data table; checked, not used for figures).
What is not here yet
- No FY2026 ACFR (year ended June 30, 2026) had been published on Oct. 24, 2026; Montana's FY2025 ACFR was signed off by the Legislative Audit Division on March 5, 2026.
- The Independent Auditor's Report in the ACFR is a scanned image; its date, signer and the component units audited by others were read by OCR from PDF pages 18-22, not from text.
- House Bill 2 itself (the enrolled act, 2025 session) was not saved; the FY 2027 figures are the Legislative Fiscal Division's tabulation of it in the 2027 Biennium Fiscal Report. Not yet checked against the act.
- Budget amendments, supplemental appropriations and changes made after the August 2025 Fiscal Report (including any 2026 special session, if one was held) are not reflected; not yet checked.
- The FY 2027 revenue figures are the Legislature's adopted forecast (August 2025); later revenue updates by the Legislative Fiscal Division or the Governor's Budget Office were not collected; not yet checked.
- The FY 2027 general fund spending lines are HB 2 only; statutory appropriations, other appropriation bills (among them HB 4 and HB 5) and transfers are given only as balance-sheet totals in the measure note, not by function.
- No Montana state table of county revenues and spending was found that can be downloaded. The Department of Administration's Local Government Services Bureau receives each county's annual financial report (AFR), trial balance and final budget, and its public portal (mtlgsb.my.site.com) lists them one government at a time as PDF or Excel attachments; they were not collected, county by county (not yet checked). The Legislative Fiscal Division publishes these trial-balance figures (FY 2018 on, cities, towns and counties) only in an interactive Power BI dashboard (app.powerbigov.us), updated quarterly (latest scheduled update Oct. 16, 2026); it offers no file to download and was not read. That dashboard would give more recent years from a state source; whether LFD can provide its data as a file is not yet checked.
- 2022 figures left empty because Census estimated more than 10% of the dollars: Big Horn, Blaine, Carbon, Cascade, Chouteau, Daniels, Deer Lodge, Fallon, Garfield, Glacier, Golden Valley, Granite, Hill, Jefferson, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Musselshell, Pondera, Powell, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Teton, Toole, Valley (Census's estimates are kept under census_imputed). Shown per measure: {'revenue_total': 30, 'spending_total': 28, 'property_tax': 31}.
- Census 2024 Annual Survey is a sample: 22 counties are not in it (Beaverhead, Big Horn, Carter, Chouteau, Custer, Fallon, Glacier, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Liberty, McCone, Mineral, Musselshell, Prairie, Rosebud, Sanders, Sheridan, Teton, Treasure, Valley, Wheatland, Wibaux); their fy2024 is null, not zero. 2024 figures left empty for imputation, per measure: {'revenue_total': 17, 'spending_total': 17, 'property_tax': 16}.
- Rows that look unusual and were not checked against the county's audit (shown as Census lists them, each with a check_note): none.
- Enterprise charges inside the 2022 revenue_total (Census codes A36 hospitals and A01 air transportation; the matching costs are in spending_total): Beaverhead: air transportation charges (A01) $17,000.00; Broadwater: air transportation charges (A01) $72,000.00; Carbon: air transportation charges (A01) $15,000.00; Carter: air transportation charges (A01) $28,000.00; Daniels: air transportation charges (A01) $42,000.00; Dawson: air transportation charges (A01) $262,000.00; Fallon: air transportation charges (A01) $2,000.00; Fergus: air transportation charges (A01) $444,000.00; Flathead: air transportation charges (A01) $10,574,000.00; Granite: air transportation charges (A01) $2,000.00; Lake: air transportation charges (A01) $537,000.00; Lincoln: air transportation charges (A01) $40,000.00; Madison: air transportation charges (A01) $18,000.00; McCone: air transportation charges (A01) $2,000.00; Meagher: air transportation charges (A01) $45,000.00; Mineral: air transportation charges (A01) $17,000.00; Missoula: air transportation charges (A01) $9,596,000.00; Musselshell: air transportation charges (A01) $81,000.00; Pondera: hospital charges (A36) $19,192,000.00; Powder River: air transportation charges (A01) $57,000.00; Powell: air transportation charges (A01) $26,000.00; Rosebud: air transportation charges (A01) $6,000.00; Sanders: air transportation charges (A01) $32,000.00; Sheridan: air transportation charges (A01) $27,000.00; Silver Bow: air transportation charges (A01) $1,005,000.00; Stillwater: air transportation charges (A01) $17,000.00; Sweet Grass: air transportation charges (A01) $7,000.00; Teton: air transportation charges (A01) $111,000.00; Toole: hospital charges (A36) $12,778,000.00, air transportation charges (A01) $125,000.00; Valley: air transportation charges (A01) $781,000.00. Counties that run a hospital or an airport are therefore not comparable with those that do not.
- Deer Lodge County (Anaconda-Deer Lodge County) and Silver Bow County (Butte-Silver Bow) are consolidated city-county governments, filed by Census as municipal governments; they also provide city services, and their 2022 Census records include utility and sanitation revenue (Anaconda-Deer Lodge: water, A91 $1,188,000.00, sewerage charges, A80 $1,405,000.00, solid waste charges, A81 $465,000.00; Butte-Silver Bow: water, A91 $10,491,000.00, transit, A94 $30,000.00, sewerage charges, A80 $7,733,000.00, solid waste charges, A81 $2,799,000.00), so their figures are not comparable with a county government alone.
- Census figures follow Census's own classification and do not match a county's audited fund statements or adopted budget line for line.
- No statewide source: no Montana state agency compiles elected county officials' salaries; each county sets them by resolution on its compensation board's recommendation (MCA 7-4-2503). Each county's salary resolution or budget was not collected; not yet checked, county by county.
- MACo's survey is the only statewide compilation found; it is not a government record, its newest edition on Oct. 24, 2026 is fiscal year 2024 (FY 2025 and FY 2026 editions were not found at MACo's usual addresses), and 18 counties did not respond: Big Horn, Broadwater, Carbon, Cascade, Custer, Deer Lodge, Garfield, Lake, McCone, Musselshell, Phillips, Ravalli, Roosevelt, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, Valley.
- Missoula County's base salary is printed as '$47.91' with no unit; it is not used.
- The Department of Administration's Local Government Services Bureau receives each county's final budget (which may list officials' salaries) on its public portal, one county at a time; not yet checked.
- County commissioners' and county attorneys' salaries are not in this file.
Gaps in the public money records as of the date checked.