Now that PPL Montana has lost its protest on millions of dollars in property taxes, local governments and schools in big-dollar counties are looking forward to getting that money.

But in some counties and school districts, part of the money is already spent.

"We couldn't operate without the money," says Thompson Falls Superintendent of Schools Jerry Pauli. "We've taken that money and spent it."

And in other counties where the taxes sit in escrow accounts, unspent, the wait isn't over on what may happen to a huge chunk of the protested taxes.

The state Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against PPL Montana on the main issue in the tax protest, essentially requiring the power-plant owner to pay most of the $10 million in taxes it had protested statewide from 2000-2002.

But that ruling didn't directly settle similar protests for tax years 2003-2007, in which PPL Montana has protested another $35 million in property taxes.

State Revenue Director Dan Bucks said Tuesday the court ruling undercuts PPL's protest for the post-2002 years, and that the company should pay those taxes. A PPL spokesman, however, said the company wants to evaluate the ruling's impact on its other protests.

About one-fifth of the protested taxes are owed to the state, which has spent half the money and kept the rest in a special account, awaiting the outcome of the protests.

The remainder of the $45 million in total protested taxes has been held by county governments where PPL power plants reside, since the protest began in 2000. The counties with some of the largest amounts of protested taxes locally are:

n Cascade County (Great Falls): $17.5 million, including $4 million from 2000-2002.

n Sanders County (Thompson Falls): $5.6 million, including $1 million from 2000-2002.

n Rosebud County (Colstrip): $3.6 million.

n Lewis and Clark County (Helena): $2.8 million, including $300,000 from 2000-2002.

n Yellowstone County (Billings): $930,000, including $235,000 from 2000-2002.

In Sanders County, the Thompson Falls schools asked to have its share of the protested taxes "released," so it could spend the money. The school's share of those taxes is about $4 million since 2000.

PPL, which owns a hydroelectric dam on the Clark Fork River in Sanders County, is the largest single taxpayer in the county and school district.

Pauli, the Thompson Falls school superintendent, said the district has put about $200,000 aside in a "flex fund" that could be used to pay back some of the money if PPL won the case. But if the state had lost the court case -- or loses out on the post-2002 protests -- the district probably would have to ask other taxpayers in the district to cover the costs of paying back PPL, he said.

The city of Thompson Falls also has spent some of its share of the protested taxes, but Sanders County government has not, said County Treasurer Carol Turk.

Schools in Colstrip, the site of four coal-fired power plants partly owned by PPL, have spent about 60 percent of the protested taxes that go to the school district.

Superintendent Harry Cheff said the district didn't start spending the money until 2003, when the protested amount increased substantially.

Cheff said what really hurt the schools in Colstrip is when other owners of the power plants, such as Puget Sound Energy and PacifiCorp., started protesting their taxes, too.

"I don't think it was PPL's intent to harm the schools," he said. "But we realized it could drag out for a while."

Some PPL employees sit on the Colstrip School Board. Cheff said even if PPL had won the court case, or ends up paying lower taxes for the post-2002 years, he doesn't think the company would force the schools to pay back money they've spent.

In Billings, the entire amount is still held in an escrow account, said Judy Horton, supervisor for the Yellowstone County treasurer's office.

Lewis and Clark County officials didn't have figures Wednesday on whether any of its $2.8 million in protested taxes had been spent by local governments or schools.

In Great Falls, most of the $17.5 million also remains in escrow accounts -- although the Great Falls schools and the city of Belt have spent some of their share of the money, said Cascade County Treasurer Jess Anderson.

Cascade County, the site of five hydroelectric dams along the Missouri River, has been one of the hardest hit by the protest.

"We've cut our budget quite a bit," Anderson said of the county. "We're running a lot leaner."

Anderson said he's waiting to see some type of order that will spell out how the money from 2000-2002 will be distributed. Still, that's only $4 million out of the $17.5 million total, he noted.

"Until we see that stipulation or decree, we don't know what's going to happen," he said. "It's the longest and largest tax protest I've ever seen. I'm hoping this will go ahead and work out."