Resort tax bills could have big impact here
By RICHARD HANNERS
Whitefish Pilot
Two bills submitted to the Montana Legislature could determine the fate of Whitefish’s resort tax.
City manager Chuck Stearns told the city council on Feb. 2 that he met with legislators about the two House bills and described a general anti-tax sentiment in the Legislature.
House Bill 312, sponsored by Rep. Bill Beck, R-Whitefish, would help Whitefish keep its resort tax by raising the population limit for “resort communities” from 5,500 to 10,000 residents.
The city’s current population is estimated to be more than 8,000, and a bill brought by the Montana League of Cities and Towns that is intended to help other cities create a resort tax might inadvertently cause Whitefish to be disqualified.
In the meantime, Rep. Dee Brown, R-Coram, has sponsored a bill that Stearns characterized as “punitive.” House Bill 329 would require Whitefish to include the population of residents in its two-mile planning and zoning jurisdiction — the so-called “doughnut” area
Furthermore, Brown’s bill would rescind a city’s resort tax in the year in which it exceeded the population limit, rather than at the time of the next 10-year federal census. An exception exists for cities that have used the resort tax for backing bonds.
In November 2004, Whitefish residents approved extending the life of the resort tax from 2016 to 2025 by a 3-1 vote. That election, however, is in question because the Whitefish population at the time exceeded 5,500 according to the “federal estimate,” not the federal census, as specified by state statute.
About 200 businesses in Whitefish collect the 2 percent resort tax, which is used by the city for street reconstruction, property tax rebates, and parks and trail projects. Resort tax money will be used to rebuild downtown streets beginning this summer.
More than $8 million in resort tax money has gone into streets since the tax was put in place in February 1996, and the rebate has lowered property taxes by 21 percent.
Stearns reported that November’s resort tax revenue was $84,720, compared to $100,518 for the same period in 2007 and $83,663 in 2006.