Whitefish businesses enjoy busy summer

Whitefish motels and restaurants had more business this June than they did the same time last year, according to resort-tax collection data compiled by the city of Whitefish.

Retail sales held their own but dipped slightly in June from last year.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, officials said they’re anxious to get the resort-tax results from July, which will be compiled by Sept. 1.

The revenue generated by the 2 percent tax on lodging, restaurants and bars, and sales of retail items considered luxury goods, is a key indicator of how the Whitefish business community is faring.

The upswing in motel and restaurant/bar business in June may indicate that the resort town is slowly climbing out of the throes of the national recession.

“It’s been a very healthy summer,” Whitefish Chamber of Commerce Director Kevin Gartland said. “July has been very busy.”

New events such as the first-ever Stumptown BBQ Smoke Off and an expanded itinerary for the Fourth of July that included a concert and street dance helped boost visitor numbers, Gartland said. Glacier National Park’s centennial celebration also has bolstered tourism traffic.

Whitefish’s neighbors to the north have stepped up visits across the border, too, he said.

“We’re seeing a whole lot of Canadians,” Gartland said.

Whitefish took a hit when the recession went full tilt in the fall of 2008.  By July 2009 resort-tax collections were down 29 percent from July 2008. Some of the dramatic impact, however, was due to a record year for collections in July 2008, when resort-tax revenue was up 35 percent from July 2007.

For fiscal year 2010, which ended June 30, Whitefish collected $192,822, down 4.2 percent from fiscal 2009, when the city collected $196,156.

In June this year, motels contributed $33,916 in resort tax collections, while restaurants/bars collected $64,480; that compares with $26,321 for motels and $58,912 for restaurants/bars in June 2009.

Since the tax began in 1996, Whitefish has collected $16.2 million. With $630,500 in interest, the overall total rises to more than $16.8 million.

Roughly two-thirds of the revenue is used for street reconstruction, such as the downtown reconstruction project that began this week. Twenty-five percent of the revenue goes to property-tax rebates for city residents; 5 percent is used for parks and the remaining 5 percent for administration.

Gartland said the chamber is working to beef up events in September and October, the shoulder season before Whitefish Mountain Resort opens for the ski season. Plans are in the works to revive the Whitefish Summer Games eventually, and this year an Oktoberfest event is being rekindled.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.