Voluntary tax group gains non-profit status

Bigfork residents will have a new acronym to keep track of as the group that started the voluntary tourist tax has its official name — the Bigfork Tourist Promotion Assessment.

The group, now referring to itself as the BTPA, had a trial run last summer with local merchants either opting to pay a flat fee or adding a 1 percent voluntary tax onto customers' bills to raise funds to promote Bigfork as a whole. The group is now officially a non-profit after members completed paperwork and received a tax identification number.

The voluntary contribution was launched at a meeting last spring after efforts to pursue a resort tax in Bigfork were unsuccessful. A subcommittee of the Bigfork Steering Committee had been tasked at looking into resort taxes.

Businesses have been much more receptive to the voluntary tax program this year now that it's been tried, said Cheryl Richmond, who has been a key organizer.

"Obviously, they see we have some money and are spending it," Richmond said. "$4,500 doesn't seem like very much, but it's far better than nothing."

In its first year, the group came up with $4,500, and gave $1,000 to support promotion for the Elvis concert in February. It's looking for promotion and advertising opportunities to spend the rest on.

Since last year, several lodging businesses, in addition to the Sleeping Bear Lodge and the Bridge Street Cottages, which tried the voluntary tax last year, have agreed to come on board. Flathead Lake Lodge and Timbers Motel will both add the 1 percent voluntary tax to customers' bills. Customers have the option to opt out. Last summer, only one person between the two lodging locations asked to have it removed.

Those who don't want to charge the 1 percent have the option of paying a flat fee based on the size of the business. Those range from $250 to $1,000.

"It's up to individual business to determine where they fit," Richmond said.

The majority of the member businesses are downtown, so those on board are working to get the word out to businesses in the Montana Highway 35 corridor.

With budgets tight and a down economy, Richmond said that the people of Bigfork are going to have to take care of their community as they will not be able to rely as much on assistance at the county or state levels. The BTPA is a way to do that, she said.

"We have to do something," Richmond said. "No one is going to take care of Bigfork. Bigfork needs to take care of Bigfork."

The money raised through the BTPA could be an asset to projects like the efforts to brand the Village by the Bigfork Area Chamber of Commerce. Those promotions will need to be funded, Richmond said. The amount raised in the first year was equal to about a third of the chamber's advertising budget, she said.

The group is still looking for business owners to get involved in the main committee from a cross-section of Village businesses. The group is also seeking leadership, as Richmond, who had been heading the BSC subcommittee and used to own the Sleeping Bear Lodge, is looking to hand over the reigns.

"The decisions need to be made by the people in the trenches," she said.

For more information or to get involved in the group, contact Richmond at montana.cheryl@gmail.com.

BRANDING BIGFORK

The Chamber Marketing Committee will host a meeting Wednesday, April 21, in the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts lobby to get ideas and to explain the process of branding the community.

The meeting will be from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. The chamber will provide coffee and breakfast items.