Whitefish voters want resort tax extended

The Daily Inter Lake

Whitefish voters overwhelmingly agreed to extend the city's 2 percent resort tax until 2025, giving the resort town another $18 million for street reconstruction, property-tax relief and bike paths.

The ballot measure passed 1,991 to 622 and extends the 2016 sunset date of the tax another nine years.

In anticipation of local-option tax legislation that could hamper Whitefish from extending its resort tax in the future, the City Council opted to have voters decide the issue now.

Recent drafts of state legislation have consistently contained provisions that forbid Whitefish from renewing the resort tax, and instead limit voters at the time the tax sunsets to accepting or rejecting a local-option tax, according to City Manager Gary Marks.

The extension will generate an additional $10.5 million for street reconstruction, allowing improvements to about 70 more blocks of streets. The extra nine years will create up to $6.5 million in additional property tax relief for Whitefish residents, and pumps roughly $800,000 into bike paths and park improvements.

Sixty-five percent is used for reconstruction of streets and related infrastructure; 25 percent goes to property tax relief; 5 percent is used for park improvements and bike paths; and 5 percent is retained by merchants to offset costs they incur in collecting the tax.

Since the 2 percent tax began in February 1996, it has brought in $8.7 million. The property-tax rebate has allowed Whitefish to have the lowest tax rate among Montana's 13 largest cities.

In other Whitefish ballot issues, voters elected Sarah Fitzgerald, Shirley Jacobson and Norm Nelson to a local government study commission.

Study commission members will examine the current government structure and propose changes. The Montana Constitution gives cities the option of reviewing the local form of government once every 10 years. Whitefish is the only city in Flathead County that voted for it in the June primary election.

Whitefish operates under a charter format with daily government workings overseen by a city manager. The study is a nonpartisan effort.

Commissioners will study that format, compare it to formats used by other cities and make suggestions for any structural changes. Changes must be voter-approved by or before the November 2006 election.