Big Mountain Resort Area District voters have approved a 3% resort tax. 

The tax will be implemented June 1 and will affect nearly every good and service sold on Big Mountain.  

Whitefish Mountain Resort lift tickets, season passes, recreational equipment rentals, lodging rentals shorter than 30 days, retail, food and beverage sales will see a 3% tax that will be collected by the resort district. Private events that occur within the resort area district boundaries will be taxed; public events such as sporting or charitable events will be exempt.  

Unofficial results tallied after the election ended Jan. 21 show that 80 voted in favor of the resort tax and 10 voted against. There were 147 ballots mailed to registered voters in the district.  

In the months prior to the vote several business representatives attended resort district board meetings to voice perspectives on the resort tax.   

Nick Polumbus, the resort’s CEO, said “it is important to consider that 60% of our visitation comes from Flathead County, and those are people that don’t get to vote on this.” 

The resort is the largest property owner in the district but did not receive a vote as it is not considered a resident.  

Other businesses such as Hellroaring Saloon & Eatery advocated that the tax, if passed, be implemented at the conclusion of the winter season.  

The resort district follows the same boundaries as the Big Mountain Fire District which includes residential areas off of Big Mountain Road north of the Big Mountain Trailhead.  

Long-term funding of the Big Mountain Fire District and its emergency services are the priority for the resort tax funds, said Ron Benton, Big Mountain Resort Area District board chair.  

The second priority is infrastructure such as paving roads and maintaining trails.  

Other possible appropriations include property tax relief in the district, public safety funding, workforce housing, expanding public transportation options and support of nonprofits such as DREAM Adaptive that plans to build a new headquarters within the district.    

The resort tax has been approved to stretch the next 20 years with a 2045 sunset, unless renewed by voters.  

The resort district is outside Whitefish city limits, where a 3% resort tax is already collected. 

Conversations about implementing a resort tax on Big Mountain began around 2022 when the Fire District’s service level rating from the Insurance Services Organization dropped, representing a reduced ability to serve the district effectively.  

The Fire District now requires a minimum of four adequately salaried firefighters, increased from two or three, said Tom Sato, of the Big Mountain Fire District board. 

“The [resort district] board is trying to make sure people have the same resources and level of safety regardless of whether they are visiting or living in our community,” Sato said.   

Official allocations of funds from the resort will be determined in the next few months by the resort district board. Both Ron Benton, Big Mountain Resort Area District chair and Kate Andrews, vice chair, said that they have numerous entities to consider.  

“We have an opportunity to help a lot of people both in the district as well as the city and surrounding valley,” Benton said.  

“We met with Daniel Sidder and Housing Whitefish to discuss some of their needs for workforce housing and where the intersection is that we can help,” Andrews said. “It’s all preliminary and there’s options that we haven’t discussed yet. 

“We would look to be helping house any employee, from the resort to Hellroaring [Saloon and Eatery,” Andrews said. “It’s my understanding that we would be able to assist employees that reside in Whitefish.” 

Property tax relief could be as little as 5% of the amount collected or as much as 25%. For comparison, 25% of Whitefish’s resort tax goes to property tax relief.  

The resort district board hired Susan Nicosia, retired city manager of Columbia Falls, for part-time assistance.  

“Susan was incremental in leading the charge for Columbia Falls’ resort tax,” Benton said. “It has been great to have someone who knows these processes as well as anyone in the state, bringing us up to speed on how the collections process can work.”  

Benton attended a meeting of the Montana Resort Tax Association last fall where he said, “every entity that has implemented a resort tax strongly affirmed that it has been a valuable game-changer.” 

“It is my hope that in five years we look back and say, we wish we had done this 15 years ago,” Benton said.  

Whitefish has discussed the possible annexation of the Big Mountain resort area, which would change governance of the district and its resort tax funds.  

Whitefish’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget lists a Big Mountain annexation analysis project with an estimated completion date of June 2025.   

The annexation analysis includes cost estimates for staff and services to annex the Big Mountain area, said Dana Smith, Whitefish City Manager.  

The analysis also will estimate the possible property tax revenue generated to cover those costs. The analysis will identify the properties that would be subject to annexation based on current agreements and a thorough legal analysis of how they would be annexed.  

This includes how the Big Mountain Sewer District would be incorporated.  

Benton said that some developers in the district have expressed that they are in favor of annexation, “especially if they are able to have their sewage connect.” 

There is no statutory authority or legal precedent as to how a city annexes a resort district and its tax collections.