Glossary

Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals

Montana Budget Analysis and Reporting System

Montana Code Annotated

Codification

The MCA is a compilation of existing general and permanent law, including the acts of the 69th Legislature of 2025 in regular session. Appropriation acts, resolutions, and laws temporary or special in character, such as repealing, validating, severability, or effective date clauses, are not codified. A list of R.C.M. 1947 sections not codified may be found in the Table of Corresponding Code Sections, R.C.M. 1947 to MCA, contained in Vol. 1 of the annotations, which provides the disposition of all R.C.M. 1947 sections.

Arrangement

The Montana Code Annotated is arranged topically. This feature distinguishes the MCA from the 1947 code, in which the titles were arranged alphabetically. The user of the MCA will find titles that relate closely to one another logically and topically grouped in the code. Continuous rearrangement designed to maintain an orderly and logical arrangement is a permanent feature of the code under authority of section 1-11-204(3)(b), MCA.

Numbering System

The code uses a three-element numbering system. The number to the far left designates the title number, the number between the hyphens designates the chapter number, and the number to the right designates the part and section number. Thus 1-2-305 indicates Title 1, chapter 2, part 3, section 5. Numbering is sequential, but numbers within chapters and parts and between titles have been skipped (reserved) to leave room for future expansion.

The Montana Geospatial Information Advisory Council (MGIAC), as required by statute, advises the State Librarian and the State Library Commission on issues related geospatial information, on the priority of geospatial information, including data layers to be developed, on the development and management of the Montana Geospatial Information Act grant process and on the distribution of funds collected in the Montana Geospatial Information Account.   

The Council assists the State Library to identify, evaluate, and prioritize requests received from state agencies, local governments, and Indian tribal government entities to provide development and maintenance of services relating to the GIS and land information. 

The Council promotes coordination of programs, policies, technologies, and resources to maximize opportunities, to minimize duplication of effort, and to facilitate the documentation, distribution, and exchange of land information.  Finally, the Council advocates for the development of consistent policies, standards, and guidelines for land information.

Formerly known as the Montana Land Information Advisory Council (MLIAC)

A mill levy is a source of funding where a majority of voters have agreed to pay higher property taxes to receive a service. A mill is one thousandth of the total property certified taxable valuation of a taxing jurisdiction. Thus, if the total taxable valuation of a city is $2,000,000, a one mill levy would yield $2,000 in property tax revenue ($2,000,000/1,000). Source: Montana Municipal Officials Handbook)

22-1-304, MCA is the piece of code that allows libraries to ask the voters for more funding. It spells out the process for going for more mills. Either a city council or a county commission can pass a resolution to put the issue on the ballot or they can ask library supporters to go through a petition process to gather signatures from 5% of the resident taxpayers to place the issue on the ballot. If library supporters gather enough signatures, the local government body will pass a resolution placing it on the ballot. Supporters will then campaign for a “yes” vote. If a majority of voters say yes, the library will receive additional mills. There is a delay in receipt of funding. The additional mills need to be added to property tax bills and paid by taxpayers before it is given to the library.  A separate group is usually created to run the campaign. It often includes members of library support groups as well as other community members who are passionate about the library. 

Montana Library Association

State association with a membership composed of librarians from all types of libraries, trustees, friends and students. MLA's concerns are the welfare and professional development of its members, the advocacy of library needs and the assurance of open access to information for all Montana's citizens.

Master of Library and Information Science

Montana Library Network

Master of Library Science