Resort tax will appear on June primary ballot for city residents

The Columbia Falls City Council Feb. 18 voted unanimously to put a resort tax on the June 2 primary ballot. The measure will appear only on ballots of city residents. Voters outside the city limits do not get to vote on the proposed 3% tax, which targets tourist-related items, alcohol, restaurant meals and other non-essential goods.

The tax would also come with a rebate to city property taxpayers.

Council tweaked the final language of the measure, making it effective Oct. 1 if it passes. The original language of the resolution would have made the tax effective Sept. 1 if voters approve the measure.

But after some discussion, council decided a later date was more appropriate, so businesses wouldn’t have to implement the tax prior to the busy Labor Day weekend.

Many businesses have cash registers that allow the tax to simply be programmed into the final bill.

Fifty-five percent of the funds raised by the tax are slated for public safety, 25 percent toward a property tax rebate for city landowners, 14 percent toward public infrastructure, 5 percent back to businesses for the cost of collecting the tax, and 1 percent toward city administration.

If approved, the tax would be in effect for 20 years.

Conservative estimates are the tax will raise about $450,000 initially. The city is looking at having to hire at least two full-time firefighters in the near future, as the city population continues to grow, and its volunteer ranks are strained by the sheer number of calls.

But other tourist towns have seen even higher revenues. Red Lodge, for example, raises roughly $600,000 to $700,000 annually from the tax.

The resort tax is seen as a way to capture tourist and visitor revenue without the tax burden on property owners. During the tourist season, the fire and police departments are very busy. The fire department alone responded to more than 300 calls last year — an all-time high.

Tourism is on the upswing in Columbia Falls, as businesses have invested heavily in downtown and the U.S. Highway 2 strip to capture revenue from people visiting Glacier National Park.

According to the University of Montana’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, Flathead County saw approximately 2.355 million visitors with 95 percent of those travelers visiting Glacier National Park in 2019 alone.

In order to get to Glacier, nearly all of them drive through Columbia Falls, and many of them stop to eat and drink.

The resort tax is notable in what it does and doesn’t tax. The tax does not apply to groceries, with the exception of candy and soda. It does not tax medicine, hardware supplies, auto parts, cars and trucks, motor oil, gasoline, newspapers, furniture, dishes and the like.

It really centers on the service industry, such as restaurant meals, alcohol, vacation rentals, car and truck rentals and items known as “luxuries,” under the proposed law.

For example, the law does not tax most new and used books, but it does tax books “of local interest,” such as a photo book of Glacier Park.