BUTTE — The deadline is fast approaching for donations to the dollar-for-dollar tax credit that can be directed to school districts in Montana.
The amount available for school districts to claim this year has gone up from $2 million in 2023 to $5 million in 2024, but that money is often gone within minutes.
"January 17 everybody in the state is going to be entering their donations so it should go quick," says Butte School District Director of Business Affairs Kevin Patrick.
He pointed to a chart on his computer that showed a box with $5 million and explained that as school districts enter their donations, that number begins to go down.
In 2022, the $1 million tax credit was scooped up in less than six minutes.
Patrick says that if donations are not claimed in time that money will be returned to donors.
Last year the legislature passed House Bill 279 that raised the dollar-for-dollar cap to $5 million, allowing individuals or corporations to donate up to $200,000 of their tax liabilities to innovative educational programs.
"It’s limited to what your tax liability is," says Patrick, and he encourages anyone interested in donating to speak with a financial adviser.
"You have maybe people that are donating 2 or 3 hundred dollars and people that are donating 200k, so it just really depends on the individual. To date, we’ve had checks come in and we’re at $15,000 as of now."
You can designate the donation for either the high school or elementary school districts and school districts will allocate money to programs including services or equipment for students with disabilities, post-secondary credits, and technology that improves student experience, to name a few uses.
"We’re asking if they do want to donate to bring in the money as soon as possible and then we’ll enter it into the system as we get it and hopefully we can get everybody in there."
For more information on how to donate, you can email Kevin Patrick at patrickks@bsd1.org or call 406-53-2503.
