Revise fees for licensed establishments
HB 853 revises Montana’s licensing fee structure for several categories of regulated establishments. The bill increases annual fees for retail food establishments, wholesale food establishments, public accommodations, trailer courts and campgrounds, and public swimming pools and spas. It also creates new size-based categories for retail food establishments and mobile food establishments—small, medium, and large—and adds seasonal and year-round classifications for pools and spas. In addition to fee changes, the bill updates statutory definitions for food-service and lodging-related terms, including retail food establishment, mobile food establishment, temporary food establishment, seasonal pool, and year-round pool.
The bill also adjusts how certain licenses and permits are administered and funded. It preserves or clarifies existing licensing requirements, including separate licenses for retail food establishments and permits for temporary food establishments, while setting new fee amounts and late fees. Revenue from the fees continues to be distributed largely to the local board inspection fund, with smaller portions going to the general fund and other dedicated accounts tied to the relevant regulatory programs. The bill also includes a limited fee exemption for whole shell eggs sold at farmers’ markets if they meet labeling and storage requirements.
HB 853 amends multiple sections of the Montana Code Annotated governing public health licensing and inspection programs, primarily in Title 50. It raises the cost of operating licensed food, lodging, campground, and pool/spa facilities, expands statutory definitions to better distinguish establishment sizes and operating seasons, and updates fee allocation formulas that support local and state inspection and enforcement activities. Affected parties include restaurants, mobile food vendors, wholesale food businesses, hotels and other public accommodations, trailer courts, campgrounds, and public pool/spa operators, as well as local health authorities that collect some permits and conduct inspections.
The bill appears to have had generally favorable support overall, passing the House and Senate with clear majorities and advancing through committee without recorded opposition in some stages. However, the Senate floor votes were notably closer than the House votes, suggesting more mixed sentiment in the upper chamber. The final enactment indicates the Legislature ultimately accepted the fee increases and administrative changes, but not without some resistance.
The main point of contention was the increase in licensing fees, especially for smaller businesses and seasonal operators that would face higher annual costs. The creation of new size-based categories for retail food and mobile food establishments, and the higher fees tied to those categories, likely affected how burdens were distributed across different business types. The Senate’s failed motion to amend and the narrower concurrence votes suggest disagreement over the scope or structure of the fee changes, though the available record does not identify specific arguments or sponsors of the opposition.