County Benefits From Oil Production
Roosevelt County appears to be the second most profitable county in the state when it comes to oil revenue.
According to the quarterly county distribution in Montana at the end of the quarter ending on Dec. 31, 2023, Roosevelt County received total distributions of $2,211,418 from the state. The information was distributed to counties at the end of March.
The only county with a higher amount of total distributions was Richland County with a whopping $9,392,577.
Counties close behind Roosevelt included Fallon at $2,189,340 and Powder River at $1,431,752.
The amount includes $862,895 directly to Roosevelt County.
“Every budget gets a certain percentage of our oil money,” Roosevelt County Commissioner Gordon Oelkers explained. “Every department benefits.”
He added that the funds received by Roosevelt County for the previous quarter was $894,000.
“It seems to be hanging around the $800,000 spot for us,” Oelkers said.
School districts in the county also benefit to various degrees from the oil activity.
The Bainville School District tops the county by receiving $684,623. Culbertson is next with $147,352 while Poplar receives $51,293.
Other school districts in the county include Froid with $12,432.97, Wolf Point with $5,471, Brockton with $2,866 and Frontier with $1,314.
The elementary retirement fund receives $219,592, the high school retirement fund receives $162,981 and the county wide transportation fund gets $60,592.
For each tax year, the amount of oil and natural gas production taxes determined is allocated to each county according to a schedule. Roosevelt County receives 45.71 percent while the state keeps the rest of the amount.
Other eastern Montana counties amounts of funds distributed to them from the state include Daniels at $834, Phillips at $92,382, Sheridan at $415,826 and Valley at $308,314.
Montana Code Annotated 15-36332 1(b) and 7 directs the Department of Revenue to distribute the oil and gas funds to the counties based on the counties’ oil and gas production. Of the distribution to a county, 1/3 must be distributed to the county government and 2/3 must be distributed to incorporated cities and towns within the county.
