City OK's resort tax committee

The Columbia Falls City Council last week OK’d the citizen members of a committee that will take a closer look at a possible resort tax here.

The members are Frank Kelly, Clay Lundgren and Dave Petersen. They’ll work with council members and Mayor Don Barnhart on the issue.

The city was recently given resort community status, which would authorize it to bring up to a 3 percent sales tax on certain goods. The tax would have to be approved by city voters.

In preliminary talks, the city sees the tax as a way to pay for emergency services, particularly fire department staff, which are busy in the summer months when more than 1 million people travel through the city en route to Glacier National Park.

Another component of the tax is a property tax refund for city residents and landowners.

The first meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9.