Montana

Whitefish senator introduces revisions to Montana resort tax • Daily Montanan

Published

1 year ago

January 30, 2025

Whitefish senator introduces revisions to Montana resort tax • Daily Montanan

Tourism is a double-edged sword, says Sen. Dave Fern.

The Whitefish Democrat has decades of experience living in one of the state’s top tourism destinations to back up that statement.

More than half the economy of towns such as Whitefish, a gateway community to Glacier National Park and home to Whitefish Mountain Resort, stands on the backs of tourism and recreation-based businesses.

The town of roughly 9,000 people welcomes around 1 million visitors each year, according to the University of Montana Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research, and those visitors have an impact on local infrastructures, trails, and rising property values — all things a local resort tax helps address.

Fern, a Whitefish Democrat, said that West Yellowstone was the first community in the state to implement a local-option sales tax in the 1980s. Now, 13 communities in the state have a “resort” designation and leverage the resort tax.

“As tourism and visitation became more and more an essential part of the economy, lots of smaller communities — both unincorporated areas and municipalities — were adversely impacted by the effects of tourism and visitation,” Fern told the Senate Taxation committee on Wednesday. “You take some communities with a limited tax base and increasing infrastructure needs because of tourism, and you come into a collision.”

Fern is sponsoring Senate Bill 172, which would amend the current resort tax law to increase the population threshold for communities that can obtain a “resort” designation from the state, and allow an additional 1% tax to be collected and used for workforce housing.

“I think what is important is that the state recognizes that resort communities and areas face an extra hardship caused by tourism, and they need assistance,” he said.

Currently, cities with less than 5,500 residents and unincorporated areas with fewer than 2,500 residents that derive at least half their economy from visitor-based businesses can opt to enact a resort tax — with voter approval — and can extend the tax even if the population grows past the initial limits.

Fern’s bill would raise the cap for cities to enact the tax to 10,000 residents, and for unincorporated areas to 3,500, saying he had Whitefish in mind as an example town.

“Over the years, Whitefish, in particular, has doubled, or nearly doubled in population,” Fern said. “And yet we haven’t grown ourselves out of the problem, the problem being increased visitation that has a continued impact on the need for infrastructure.”

The tax, capped at 3%, applies to sales of non-essential “luxury” goods and services sold by food, lodging and destination-recreation businesses within a resort area, while exempting a long list of “necessities of life,” with the goal of maximizing tourism dollars and minimizing impacts on local residents.

At least 5% of resort tax revenue must be used to alleviate local property taxes, with the rest determined by the local governing body.

Communities can also leverage an additional 1% to be used exclusively for infrastructure, but that addition is capped for cities below the population limits.

Residents of Whitefish first passed the resort tax in 1995, and reauthorized it for 20 more years in 2021, when city officials said that annual tax revenue was around $4 million. Currently, the city of Whitefish allocates 25% of revenue to property tax relief, 48% to infrastructure projects, 10% to bike paths and parks, 10% to affordable housing projects and 2% to the local Whitefish Trail System.

Fern’s bill also focuses on workforce housing by removing the population cap for leveraging the additional 1% tax and allowing it to be used for infrastructure or affordable housing projects.

While new taxes are often perceived as unpopular, Fern pointed out to committee members that each time the Whitefish tax was put to voters, it gained support. The 2021 vote to extend the tax passed with 89% of the vote, while a recent vote to add a tax to the Big Mountain Resort District — comprising Whitefish Mountain Resort, which sits outside city limits — also passed with more than 80% support.

“I think that is because you can see progress. You see infrastructure changes, you see significant improvements in roads, side walks, shared use paths, that sort of thing,” Fern said. “And you get property tax relief, so that’s why it’s been very very popular.”

No one opposed SB 172 during the committee hearing, while a representative from Shelter Whitefish, a nonprofit focused on housing inequality, testified in support.

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Montana

Montana Supreme Court allows ballot measure on initiative process to move forward

Published

45 minutes ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Montana Supreme Court allows ballot measure on initiative process to move forward

HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a proposed ballot measure intended to simplify the process for introducing ballot measures in the future.

Justices ruled 5-2 that the measure, currently called Ballot Issue #8, did not violate state requirements that a single constitutional amendment can’t make multiple separate changes to the Montana Constitution.

“We’re very grateful to the Montana Supreme Court for agreeing with us that the attorney general’s finding of legal insufficiency for Ballot Issue #8 was incorrect,” said SK Rossi, a spokesperson for Montanans Decide, the group sponsoring the measure.

Montanans Decide argues the Montana Legislature has passed laws making it harder for the public to propose and pass ballot issues. The Montana Constitution already guarantees the people the right to pass laws and amendments through ballot measures, but Ballot Issue #8 would expand that to include a right to “impartial, predictable, transparent, and expeditious processes” for proposing those measures. It would seek to prevent “interference from the government or the use of government resources to support or oppose the ballot issue.”

Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office argued the measure “implicitly amended” multiple provisions in the state constitution, including by limiting the “power and authority of public officials to speak officially on ballot issues that affect those officials’ public duties” and by putting restrictions on judges and on the Legislature. Montanans Decide, the group sponsoring Ballot Issue #8, disagreed – and the majority of justices sided with them.

“Its provisions operate together to define and protect a single constitutional right—the people’s exercise of initiative and referendum,” wrote Justice Katherine Bidegaray in the majority opinion. “They are closely related components of one constitutional design.”

Bidegaray’s majority opinion was joined by Justices Jim Shea, Laurie McKinnon, Beth Baker and Ingrid Gustafson.

Chief Justice Cory Swanson and Justice Jim Rice each wrote dissenting opinions, saying they would have upheld Knudsen’s decision to disallow Ballot Issue #8. Rice said the language restricting government interference with a ballot issue was not closely related and should have been a separate vote. Swanson agreed with Rice and said the measure’s attempt to fix a timeline for legal cases surrounding ballot measures was also a separate substantial change.

In a statement, Chase Scheuer, a spokesperson for Knudsen’s office, reacted to the decision.

“This decision only further muddies the courts’ jurisprudence on ballot issue questions,” he said. “This initiative would violate the separate vote requirement by amending multiple parts of the Montana Constitution, but the court contradicted its prior rulings. Attorney General Knudsen will continue to neutrally apply the separate vote requirement in his review of ballot initiatives.”

The court’s decision means that Knudsen’s office will now need to approve ballot language for Ballot Issue #8. Once that language is finalized, Montanans Decide could begin gathering signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

However, last year, sponsors of another initiative went to the Supreme Court to argue that the ballot statements Knudsen prepared were misleading. If Montanans Decide object to their ballot statements, that could further delay signature gathering while the case plays out in court.

“Regardless, we’re going to push as hard as we can to get those petitions into the hands of voters and let them sign and support if they so choose,” said Rossi.

Rossi said the legal battle this measure has gone through – and the possibility of more to come – shows why Ballot Issue #8 is needed.

“The state Legislature, and also statewide elected officials, have taken every opportunity to create burdens and hurdles and rigamarole for campaigns to get through in order to just get to the signature gathering phase, and then to get through the signature gathering phase onto the ballot, and then get through the election phase,” said Rossi. “The reason we filed this initiative is just to make sure that the process is simple, that the timeline is clear, and that Montanans can have their will heard when they want to propose and pass laws that they deem worthy.”

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Montana

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

Published

13 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

HELENA, Mont. — Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is running for Montana’s Western Congressional District seat, entering the race a day after U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke announced he would not seek reelection.

Jacobsen’s announcement sets up a new contest for the open seat after Zinke, a Republican, said he would seek reelection.

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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