Archive: June 2021

Montana Supreme Court Declares SB140 Constitutional

22 June 2021
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The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Governor making appointments to the Supreme Court and District Courts.

The decision is in response to a challenge to SB140, a recently enacted law that abolished the Judicial Nomination Commission. The commission that was responsible for screening applicants for vacancies on the Supreme Court and District Courts and forwarding nominees to the Governor for appointment to those vacancies.

SB 140 replaced the Commission with a process that allows the Governor to consider any applicant who received a letter of support from at least three adult Montana residents during a prescribed public comment period. The Judicial Nomination Commission was created by the 1973 Legislature in response to the enactment of Article VII, Section 8(2) of the 1972 Montana Constitution, which provides that “[f]or any vacancy in the office of supreme court justice or district court judge, the governor shall appoint a replacement from nominees selected in the manner provided by law.”

The Petitioners contended that Article VII, Section 8(2) required the creation of a separate commission or committee to screen applicants for judicial vacancies. The Petitioners argued that the purpose of Article VII, Section 8(2) was to ensure the appointment of quality judges who were free of political influence, and that the abolishment of the Commission violated that purpose by giving unfettered discretion to the Governor for appointing justices and judges.

Respondents argued that the plain language of Article VII, Section 8(2) gave the Legislature the discretion to prescribe the manner in which justices and judges are appointed and did not require an independent commission to screen applicants. The Court agreed with Petitioners that the purpose of Article VII, Section 8(2) was to ensure the appointment of good judges, and that the intent of the Framers of the Constitution had to be properly considered in determining a provision’s constitutionality.

After reviewing the transcripts from the Constitutional Convention, however, the Court concluded that neither the plain language of Article VII, Section 8(2), nor the Framers’ intent indicated that Article VII, Section 8(2) required an independent commission to screen applicants. Rather, the language of Article VII, Section 8(2) was a compromise among some Constitutional Convention Delegates who wanted a commission, and others who wanted to give more discretion to the Governor. The compromise delegated the process for making judicial appointments to the Legislature. Although the Court acknowledged that the Commission created by the 1973 Legislature had honored the constitutional objective of recruiting good judges to serve the citizens of Montana for the past forty-eight years, it was not the Court’s function to determine whether the Commission was a better process than SB 140 for making judicial appointments—it was to determine whether SB 140 complied with the language and constitutional intent of Article VII, Section 8(2).

The Court held that it does.

Justice Rice wrote a separate concurring opinion to condemn “the extraordinary, indeed, extraconstitutional, actions taken by the Legislature and the Department of Justice.

Justice Rice addressed at length the failure of the Legislature and the Department of Justice to “demonstrate a proper understanding of the Judiciary’s constitutional authority.” He addressed the historical importance to our constitutional system of government that requires each branch of government to respect the other branches’ constitutional authority, and the perils to our democracy when one branch of government ignores the constitutional separation of powers. Justice Rice also addressed the “duplicitous actions” engaged in by the Legislature’s attorneys in their filings with this Court.

Despite finding this conduct “dishonest and contemptuous,” Justice Rice assessed the merits of the issue before the Court and concurred with the Court’s decision that SB 140 is constitutional.

Justice McKinnon dissented from the Court’s decision. She concluded that SB 140 violated the plain language of Article VII, Section 8(2), which requires that “nominees [be] selected.” Justice McKinnon would hold that SB 140 establishes only an application process that is not a merit-based selection process as required by Article VII, Section 8(2). Noting that when interpreting constitutional provisions, the intent of the Framers is controlling, Justice McKinnon discussed Montana’s history of political corruption, executive overreach into the courts, and the constitutional provision itself, and would hold that applying well-established rules of construction for determining the Framers’ intent in reviewing Constitutional Convention Notes, prior legislative determinations regarding the Framers’ intent, and this Court’s precedent lead to a conclusion that SB 140 is unconstitutional.

Justice McKinnon concluded that the Framers of the 1972 Constitution intended to limit the Governor’s plenary power to make judicial appointments which existed under the 1889 Constitution. Justice McKinnon noted that at the core of the Framers’ convictions was an intent to preserve the integrity and independence of Montana’s judiciary, and to ensure that power was not disproportionately placed in one branch of government. Justice McKinnon concluded that SB 140, because it gives plenary power to the Governor to appoint judges from self-nominated applicants without an independent merit-based vetting process, is inconsistent with the Framers’ intent, and violates Montana’s Constitution

Metra Park Names Alcohol Vendor

22 June 2021
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The Billings Breakfast Exchange Club and Anderson Management have been selected to serve alcohol at the First Interstate Arena at MetraPark. After a competitive bidding process, they were selected as the preferred vendors.

“We’re happy to welcome back Breakfast Exchange and excited to begin our relationship with Anderson Management,” said Tim Goodridge, MetraPark Assistant General Manager. “Working with these two organizations ensures great customer service and preserves the charitable capacity so important to our community.”

Interested vendors were invited to tour the First Interstate Arena and submit RFPs (request for proposals) to serve alcohol in the arena. The submitted RFPs were then evaluated by a selection committee and their recommendation was made to the county.

“The decision to bid out the alcohol sales contract, or any MetraPark contract, is not a critique of a partnership,” said Goodridge, “but an ongoing obligation, on behalf of the County, to regularly bid out contracts. This is standard business practice and state law that vendor contracts need to be revisited every so often as a matter of good government. As we start to think about the future of MetraPark and investing in new infrastructure, now is a good time to improve the way we do business overall.”

Letter to the Editor – Alan Olson

22 June 2021
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Has Billings Mayor Bill Cole Forgotten 1000 Workers in Yellowstone County?

By Alan Olson, Montana Petroleum Association

It was reported recently in the Billings Gazette that Mayor Cole was enthusiastically doing the obligatory political ribbon cutting thing to celebrate a new business venture in Billings. The new venture is in the business of selling electricity to fuel electric vehicles (EVs). This new business venture is on city owned property and paid for with public dollars. While I am not ideologically opposed to EVs, – I believe everyone has a market choice – but this ceremony was a little out of the ordinary. 

The Mayor definitely put his own spin on things. Rather than simply cutting a ribbon for this new public venture, Mayor Cole cut a gasoline hose with an electric saw while telling the crowd; “Today marks the beginning of a new era.”  “A small step forward on what I’m sure is going to be a long journey of electrifying personal transportation … in Montana and, yes, even in Billings.”

The Big Sky Business Journal’s Hot Sheet remarked Mayor Cole’s “ribbon cutting” was more a demonstration of “cutting of ties to carbon-based fuels, rather than a ribbon cutting.”

I hope Mayor Cole recognizes the contributions the three Yellowstone County refineries add to the Billings economy and the hard-working people that keep those refineries operating to supply fuel to his other constituents. I hope Mayor Cole recognizes that when those ties to carbon-based fuels are gone so will the jobs at the refineries be gone. Has Billings Mayor Bill Cole forgotten those 1000 workers in Yellowstone County? Surely, with the Biden Administration announcing plans to source metals from abroad, Mayor Cole does not believe refinery workers will find new employment in the EV business – does he?

County Plans on How to Spend Federal Recovery $$$

22 June 2021
Evelyn Pyburn
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by Evelyn Pyburn

While receiving $32 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) may be considered something of a windfall for Yellowstone County, there’s a lot of needs in the county and it goes quickly, according to Yellowstone County Commissioners.

The commissioners and other county officials are in the process of identifying priorities while trying to sort out the state and federal rules about how they can spend the money. Time frames imposed by federal regulations limit substantially their options, but fortunately Yellowstone County had several projects in the planning stages which also happen to qualify as permissible expenditures by ARPA.

County Commissioner Don Jones said that counties without qualified projects already in the planning may not be able to meet the late summer deadline.

Commissioners are working on meeting their own internal deadline of mid-July to determine what projects they want to set as priorities to obligate in spending the first half of the ARPA grant – -$15.6 million—which has already been released to the county. ARPA requires that the monies issued to counties and municipalities  be spent by Dec. 31, 2024

Besides addressing the needs of health and safety, the county must have direct line of authority over any entity or projects to which they direct the ARPA money. Counties and major municipalities have been allotted funds directly, but the state set aside a separate program for “non-entitled units” of government which would typically include many “districts” or local governments serving less than 50,000 people.

Much of the county’s funding will be spent on rebuilding infrastructure and utilities at Metra Park, according to the commissioners, not only because it involves projects for which much of the preliminary work has already been done but because Metra Park and the role it plays in serving the community easily qualifies within the parameters of ARPA for public health and safety.

County officials had already recognized the need to refurbish Metra Park’s almost 100-year old infrastructure and has already had extensive engineering studies and evaluations completed in anticipation of conducting numerous projects, from replacing water and sewer lines to enhancing broadband capacity. Because of that preliminary work all they have to do to launch many of the projects is issue a “request for proposals.”

Metra Park infrastructure projects include such things as water and sewer lines, storm water retainage, electricity – “everything that is under the ground”, including the possibility of expanding Metra Park’s broadband capacity to 5G. 

Expanding broadband capacity requires the installation of fiber optic cabling. Broadband 5G is the newest global wireless standard which delivers higher peak data speeds which can connect “everyone and everything together,” including machines, objects, and devices.

County commissioners are also eyeing the possibility of doing a pre-engineering study in Lockwood to install water and sewer lines in the areas of Johnson Lane and Coulson Road aimed especially at the planned industrial park, the TEDD (Targeted Economic Development District).

The county, under the direction of purchasing agent, James Matteson, has issued requests for qualifications from architects, engineers and consultants, to design, estimate costs and scope of work for Metra Park and for the Lockwood area. Responses for the Lockwood RFQ is June 14 and for Metra Park RFQs, June 28.

Matteson explained that for any large project that involves architects or engineers, in order to select a firm the county typically issues requests for qualificaions (RFQ) which are reviewed by county officials with the top three candidates interviewed, one of which is then selected to assist in planning and getting a project ready for bid.

Jennifer Jones, the county’s assistant finance director, explained that the county commissioners need to have information that the engineers or other consultants will provide in order to “brainstorm,” and figure out what is feasible and what they can “bid out”. “Some things may not be possible,” she said.

The feasible projects will then be “obligated” under the federal guidelines, which means they have to be designed and put out to bid by the end of summer.

Jones said that the requirements of ARPA are different than most federal grant processes in which they are reimbursed when the project is completed. ARPA sends the funds up front with the stipulation that if they are not spent properly they have to be sent back, so the county wants to be very diligent in making sure they comply with the requirements.

“We have to have our ducks in the row so we have been talking about this for three or four months. We don’t want to be in a position that we can’t spend it properly and effectively,” said Jones. “I’ll do quarterly progress reports,” said Jones, upon which the federal government will determine if the county is in compliance and if they are, they will release the balance of the funds to the county in May 2022.

While many people think of Metra Park primarily as an entertainment venue, for the emergency services providers in the community it is home base for all kinds of activities. “We use Metra Park a lot, for more than just entertainment,” said KC Williams, County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator, who sees Metra Park in a very different light, one totally in keeping with the intent of ARPA. In general APRA funds are meant to be spent in manners that fortify the health and welfare of citizens.

But even as far as being an entertainment center there is much to be said about refurbishing the facility to meet that demand. Metra Park houses the largest crowd gatherings in the state,” pointed out Williams, crowds of that size need better access to 911 and for all public safety and public health that use the grounds.

Metra Park is commonly used as a shelter for situations in which citizens are displaced, as was most recently the case when an irrigation ditch was flooding a Billings neighborhood.  Williams noted that the Red Cross frequently directs people to Meta Park who are in need of emergency shelter.

Metra Park was made available by county officials to the medical community as a backup for potential overflow from the hospitals, and provided an easily accessed location where the pubic could get tested for COVID during the pandemic.

It has often been used to accommodate fire fighters and as a point of staging emergency responses. It is  routinely used by emergency service providers for training exercises and a meeting place. “We need better access to public safety data that we constantly rely on,” said Williams.

Conceding up front that he is no expert on what it takes to increase broadband capacity for Metra Park, Williams fully understands the benefits that it would bring. In addition to responding to emergencies, increasing capacity in and around Metra Park’s 189 acres would be a significant benefit in providing a foundation for the technology for surrounding areas.

“One of the limiting factors in Metra Park serving well as backup for the hospitals’ overflow” during the height of COVID hospitalizations, explained Williams, is that medical records are all electronic now and “in order to do it correctly and most effectively we need to have better broadband capacities. When Metra Park has better broadband capabilities and can handle electronic medical records easily then using it as an alternative cite for a hospital will be easier.”

Chase Bank Names Duncan Market Director

22 June 2021
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Chase has named veteran banker Claudius Duncan as its market director of banking in Montana and Wyoming where the bank recently announced its market expansion.

Duncan and his family recently relocated to Cheyenne from Buena Park, where he led a team of bankers serving Chase customers in California. He brings nearly 15 years of banking leadership to his new role, and has been with Chase since 2007.

A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Duncan earned his associate degree in Science Business Administration in 2004. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Operations Management.

“Claudius’s experience working as a New Build & In-Store Sales & Strategy Support Manager, coupled with his proven leadership skills, position him well to lead our market expansion teams in Montana and Wyoming,” said Dan Deegan,  head of market expansion for JPMorgan Chase.

Duncan is an active member of the community. He currently enjoys serving on the Boys and Girls Club of America, Diversity & Inclusion Council and the JPMorgan Chase Black Organization for Leadership Development. Most recently, while still in CA, he also coached his children’s soccer and basketball teams at the local YMCA.

THE FINANCIAL FOCUS – Father’s Day Gifts…for your kids.

21 June 2021
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By Michael A Vondra, Certified Financial Planner Practitioner Edward Jones

If you’re a dad, you may be in line to get some nice gifts on Father’s Day. But your greatest gift may be your ability to help your children. One way of doing that is to get them started in the world of investing – and making a few investments on their behalf.

Here are three possibilities:

— 529 plan – If you invest in a 529 education savings plan, your earnings can grow federally tax-free, provided the money is used for qualified educational expenses. (Withdrawals not used for these expenses will generally incur taxes and penalties on investment earnings.) If you invest in your own state’s 529 plan, you might receive some state tax benefits, too, depending on how your state’s tax laws apply to 529 plans. State-by-state tax treatment may vary, so you’ll need to consult with your tax professional about your situation.

Provided you stay within certain limits, you can also use a 529 plan to pay for qualified K-12 expenses and registered apprenticeship programs. And you can even use it to repay certain qualified student loans, within limits.

A 529 plan can affect financial aid, but its effect is generally lower than that of other assets. And as the account owner, you have control of your 529, so, if one child decides not to go to college or pursue further education, you can switch beneficiaries. 

—UGMA/ UTMA account – When you establish a special type of custodial account known as either UGMA (Uniform Gift to Minors Act) or UTMA (Uniform Transfers to Minors Act), you are providing financial resources that can be used for education or another purpose that benefits your child, such as summer programs.

One potential benefit of an UGMA or UTMA is that some of the earnings will be taxed at the child’s rate, which is likely lower than your own. Plus, UGMA/UTMA accounts typically allow a wide range of investment choices. However, once children reach the age of majority (typically 18 or 21) they gain complete access to the money and can do whatever they want with it. 

— IRA – A child with any taxable compensation, such as money from an after-school job, is eligible to fund an IRA. You may want to open one on your child’s behalf – and you can “sweeten” the offer by matching some of their contributions. You can’t directly invest in the IRA, but you can give your child money for that purpose. Keep in mind, though, that the total amount contributed can’t exceed your child’s taxable compensation for the year.

An IRA is a great introduction to the world of investing. For one thing, your child can make small contributions throughout the year, so investing in an IRA doesn’t seem burdensome. Also, since an IRA can be invested in different types of securities, your child can learn about various investment vehicles – stocks, bonds, mutual funds and so on. Plus, you can point out that, with a traditional IRA, taxes won’t be due on the earnings until your child starts taking withdrawals decades from now. (And with a Roth IRA, withdrawals are tax-free, provided certain conditions are met.)

On Father’s Day, you can show your appreciation for whatever gifts you receive from your children. But by investing in their future, you can gain some longer-term contentment.  

Red States Have Lowest Unemployment Rates

21 June 2021
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The Center Square

Republican-led states and Vermont reported the lowest unemployment rates in April, according to a new report by the U.S. Commerce Department. States led by Democratic governors recorded the highest jobless rates, according to the report.

Unemployment rates were lower in April in 12 states and the District of Columbia and stable in 38 states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

States with the highest unemployment rates in April were Hawaii (8.5%), California (8.3%), New Mexico and New York (both at 8.2%), and Connecticut (8.1%). All five states with the highest unemployment are run by Democratic trifectas, meaning Democrats control the governor’s office and both houses of the state legislature.

The four states with the lowest jobless rates in April were all run by Republican trifectas: Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Utah, with 2.8% each. Vermont, with a Republican governor and a Democratic-controlled state House and Senate, ranked fifth-best with an unemployment rate of 2.9%.

Overall, 31 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. national average of 6.1%. The majority – 26 – are Republican-led states. Of the 19 states and the District of Columbia with jobless rates higher than the national average, 14 are led by Democrats.

However, the three largest unemployment rate decreases year-over-year from April 2020 to April 2021 occurred in blue states: Nevada, (down 21.5%), Michigan (down 18.7%), and Hawaii (down 13.4%). Ten other states also saw declines of 10% or more.

The report came out as the Dallas Federal Reserve reported lowered expectations for May job growth.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said that hiring difficulties have continued through May and will likely lead to another weak jobs report following the lower-than-expected 266,000 positions added in April. The next jobs report is expected to be published June 4.

According to a Dallas Fed survey, weakening job growth is attributed to several factors, including extended additional federal unemployment payments and a lack of childcare options for working parents.

“These structural issues, which we saw in the report for April … all those tensions are not going to go away” immediately, Kaplan said at a Dallas Fed conference on technology. “We think you are going to see another odd or unusual report. … Businesses are telling us they got plenty of demand, but they cannot find workers either skilled or unskilled.”

Republican governors in at least 22 states moved to drop the additional federal payment in response to businesses having difficulty finding people to hire because they were making more or enough money receiving unemployment checks than working. Texas was among the last to do so last week.

MPA Expresses Concerns Over President’s BLM Nominee

21 June 2021
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A Montanan, Tracy Stone-Manning of Missoula has been nominated by President Biden to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The appointment has stirred concern by the Montana Petroleum Association (MPA) which points to Stone-Manning’s recent testimony before a natural resources committee about the way the BLM manages public lands regarding oil and gas leasing.

She erroneously told the committee that BLM-managed lands leased for oil and gas development, force the Interior Department to manage those lands predominantly for oil and gas development rather than addressing the needs of people and wildlife, claims Alan Olson, Executive Director of the MPA, in a recent release.

Only 3.7% of the 700 million acres of BLM managed Federal minerals are under lease. Lands under active production amounted to only 1.8% at the end of FY 2018. Even the lands that are under lease are not managed predominantly for oil and gas development in Montana, stated Olson. As a matter of fact, these lands are still open for recreation as well as grazing and timber unless those activities too are tied up in litigation. As for wildlife issues, many Federal oil and gas leases contain stipulations to accommodate wildlife from seasonal use restrictions to going as far as to prohibit surface occupancy. So, there is management outside and over the mineral lease itself for recreation and wildlife, said Olson.

Stone-Manning is Senior Advisor for Conservation Policy and the National Wildlife Federation. She has been described as a “longtime environmental advocate and Democratic aide”, having served as chief of staff for former Gov. Steve Bullock and as an aide to Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. She was also formerly a  spokesperson for the environmental group Earth First.

The BLM functions within the Interior Department and has jurisdiction over about a quarter-billion acres and one-third of the nation’s underground minerals, including oil, natural gas and coal reserves. The agency regulates drilling, mining, grazing and other activities.

In her testimony, Stone-Manning lamented that there are already 7,600 unused drilling permits issued, why lease more federal minerals? Olson responded, “Many of those permits are sitting in suspension. Some are suspended due to litigation by organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation and other environmental groups. Other permits are sitting due to the current economics of the industry. But at the end of the day those permits still brought in over $82 million in just permit fees not counting lease bonus fees and annual rental payments. In contrast, BLM permit fees are 72 to 400 times the cost of a comparable State of Montana permit for the same depth of well on State or private minerals.”

Prior to the COVID pandemic, in 2018 BLM lease sales generated over $1.1 billion in revenue from oil and gas lease bonus bids, first-year rental fees, and administrative fees while costing the BLM about $165 million appropriated from Congress in FY 2018 for a return of 85%. In 2020 the royalty payments to the Federal Government brought in $4.6 billion additionally over leasing and permitting revenue. Annual revenues provided to the U.S. Treasury through Federal mineral development is second only to that provided by the Internal Revenue Service, pointed out Olson.

Lands managed by the BLM are for the most part, to be managed for multiple use. Multiple use means just that, multiple, many, numerous, various, uses. Not just for one segment of the population but within reason, all uses. Oil and gas leases on less than 4% of the Federal mineral estate do not prevent other uses for the same lands. We are hoping Ms. Stone-Manning will see the positive impacts from the BLM’s minerals management.

Experience Proving Green Mandates Undermine Affordability, Reliability of Electricity

21 June 2021
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The Center Square

Recent experiences in three states provide an insight into how problematic President Joe Biden’s push for renewable energy could be for electric customers nationwide, according to a new report from Power the Future.

The report, titled “Lights Out: How Green Mandates are Undermining the Affordability and Reliability of Electricity,” was written by Larry Behrens, western states director for Power the Future, a nonprofit trade group that speaks for oil and gas workers.

“One thing is clear. The Biden Administration is misleading the American people to impose the Green Agenda,” Behrens said. “Biden can’t achieve his pledge with stifling bureaucratic manipulation in every sector of the market.”

To examine the impact Biden’s policies could have on the country, Behrens looked at scenarios in Texas, California and New Mexico, where more dependence on renewable energy has failed customers.

Texas in mid-February experienced winter storms and record low temperatures that left millions without power and claimed more than 100 lives.

“One factor stood out among the rest,” Behrens said. “The state’s heavy reliance on and subsidization of wind power came up empty at a critical time.”

According to data from the Electric Reliability Corporation of Texas, wind provided 42% of the state’s electricity on Feb. 7. By Feb. 11, when the storms first hit, that fell to 8% as turbines froze. Coal and natural gas plants increased output by 47% and 450%, respectively, to meet increased demand.

In California, state law requires utilities to purchase 50% of their electricity from renewables by 2026. As a result, over the past decade electric bills there increased 30%, seven times more than the national average.

New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act, signed in 2019, required utilities to have 20% of all electricity sales from renewables by 2020. The Public Service Company of New Mexico, the state’s largest utility, missed the mark, and plans to close the state’s largest coal plant next year, costing the local economy hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue.

PNM has also said 75% of customers’ electricity needs will come from renewables by 2025.

“This claim strains credulity coming from a company that failed to meet the state’s 2020 renewable target,” Behrens said.

According to the Associated Press, last August, days after New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stood by a solar panel installation in Albuquerque praising renewables, PNM took to social media to ask customers to cut back on air conditioning while temperatures increased due to concerns about cloud cover leading to reduced solar generation.

“The lessons learned from these states’ experiences with renewable energy should be pushing policymakers across the country to reject top-down green central planning of the electrical grid,” Behrens said. “But that doesn’t appear to be happening.”

Billings Building Permits June 15, 2021

21 June 2021
Dennis Pyburn
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Commercial

LJR Of Montana Inc/435 Jaque Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $8,177

RPR Properties LLC/Lennick Bros. Roofing & Sheetmetal, 704 N 30th St, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $7,500

Iret-Rocky Meadows LLC/Drytech Co LLC, 2440 Village Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $10,400

Iret-Rocky Meadows LLC/Drytech Co LLC, 2440 Village Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $11,050

Iret-Rocky Meadows LLC/Drytech Co LLC. 2440 Village Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $13,650

Iret-Rocky Meadows LLC/Drytech Co LLC, 2440 Village Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $6,175

Iret-Rocky Meadows LLC/Drytech Co LLC, 2440 Village Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $14,300

Iret-Rocky Meadows LLC/Drytech Co LLC, 2440 Village Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $13,325

Iret-Rocky Meadows LLC/Drytech Co LLC, 2440 Village Ln, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $30,225

Billings Heights VFW Post 677, 618 Winemiller Ln, Com Remodel, $10,000

M&M Partners LLC/Cucancic Construction Inc., 2760 Gabel Rd, Com Remodel, $50,000

Travis Frandsen/Langlas & Assoc. Inc., 1603 Grand Ave, Com Remodel, $300,000

JNL Holdings LLC/Faithful Cleaning & Restoration, 526 Moore Ln, Com Remodel, $10,000

School District 2/Perfect 10 Roofing, 2401 Grand Ave, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $23,000    r

Beartooth Holdings/Beartooth Holding & Construction, 525 Henry Chapple St, Com New Store/Strip Center, $1,000,000

State Of Montana/Star Service, Inc., 1500 University Dr, Com Remodel, $475,000

Target Corp T-0171/Engineered Structures Inc, 2601 Central Ave,  Com Remodel, $75,000

Albertsons Companies/ MJT Construction Inc, 3137 Grand Ave, Com Remodel, $40,000

DAJ Enterprises, Llc/Cucancic Construction Inc., 3189 King Ave W, Com Remodel, $8,000

Residential

Mark S & Rhett S Moak/Boyce Built LLC , 2714 Selvig Ln, Res New Accessory Structure, $75,000

Copper Ridge West Inc/Infinity Home LLC, 3131 70th St W, Res New Single Family, $245,068

Clement, Roy L & Jackie M/Zuhaus Construction LLC, 4749 Gold Creek Trl, Res New Single Family, $475,000

Preston, Todd A & Patricia J/Myers Custom Homes, 517 Shadow Lawn Ct, Res New Single Family, $1,200,000

Steve & Gail Mack/Martin Built Home LLC, 5361 Amherst Dr, Res New Single Family, $405,000

McCall Homes/McCall Development, 1866 St George Blvd, Res New Single Family, $240,550

McCall Homes/McCall Development, 1769 St George Blvd, Res New Single Family, $132,564

McCall Homes/McCall Development, 1763 St George Blvd, Res New Single Family, $132,564

Infinity Home/Infinity Home LCC, 7044 Shiny Penny Way, Res New Single Family, $241,855

SMTP 002 LLC/Better Building Technologies LLC, 6315 Ridge Stone Dr, Res New Single Family, $325,000

Wagenhals Enterprises Inc/ Wagenhals Enterprises Inc, 5501 Morning Star Ln, Res New Single Family,   $270,000

HWT Construction LLC/HWT Construction LLC, 1559 Tania Cir, Res New Single Family, $339,168

Wells Built Inc/Wells Built Inc, 6028 Canyonwoods Dr, Res New Single Family, $499,899

Mark Dawson/CDH, LLC, 2247 Greenbriar Rd, Res New Single Family, $314,927

HD Building Inc/HD Building Inc, 1427 Tania Cir, Res New Single Family, $266,552

Rob Pedigo , 2112 Gleneagles Blvd, Res New Single Family, $321,991

CDH, LLC /CDH, LLC, 4645 Toyon Dr, Res New Single Family, $336,207

Bob Pentecost/Bob Pentecost Construction, 7004 Copper View Way, Res New Single Family, $368,000