Montana
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.
GREAT FALLS — Blowing dust is becoming a major issue again on the Hi-Line as winds gust to 60–70+ mph, especially from Phillips County eastward.
Visibility has dropped to very low to near zero at times, and there have already been several crashes east of Glasgow near Nashua and Frazer. People are urged to avoid unnecessary travel in these areas if possible.
This is a very dangerous situation for travelers across northeast Montana. Blowing dust is causing near-zero visibility in many locations.
WATCH:
Hazardous driving along the Hi-Line
Highway 2 from Dodson to Wolf Point is closed until further notice, with only emergency travel allowed in these areas.
All red- and black-shaded roads and highways are experiencing severe driving conditions because of the low visibility.
MDT
Click here to visit the MDT 511 site.
(WEDNESDAY, MAY 13) A fast-moving front rolled through north-central Montana on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. The powerful winds gusted to more than 80 miles per hour in some areas.
Shaylan Verploegen shared video from north of Havre, showing a huge “wall” of dirt and dust in a unique weather phenomenon known as a haboob; watch the video and see other viewer photos here:
Fast-moving front kicks up walls of dust
The strong winds caused some damage. There were trees blown over in Havre, Great Falls, and Helena. Part of a roof was blown off in Box Elder, and there were several carports that were destroyed in Havre. There were also numerous power outages reported across the area, some of which lasted for several hours.
Check out more photos and videos shared by KRTV viewers:
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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 13, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 13 drawing
22-31-52-56-67, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from May 13 drawing
17-18-28-37-42, Star Ball: 04, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from May 13 drawing
02-06-10-16, Bonus: 16
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from May 13 drawing
08-13-39-63-66, Powerball: 02
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from May 13 drawing
02-04-13-17-32
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 13 drawing
21-24-29-42-49, Bonus: 01
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.
Montana
Public Meeting at Hub on Smith Concerning Montana Water Call Prompting Priority Administration in Tongue Basin
Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart announced that on May 5, 2026, the State of Montana placed a call under Article V(A) of the Yellowstone River Compact to fill Tongue River Reservoir in Montana. As a result, priority administration is in effect on post-1950 water rights in Wyoming that divert water from the Tongue River and its tributaries and are not excluded from the compact.
A public meeting will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 18, in the dining room of The Hub on Smith. Attendees are asked to enter on the north side of the building.
The Tongue River Basin has been experiencing drought conditions over the past year with historically low winter snowpack and streamflow conditions. According to the release, those conditions led to Montana’s interstate call and prompted the administration of the Tongue River Basin in Wyoming.
The priority administration will affect post-1950 water rights within the Tongue River Basin, including reservoir storage, stream diversions and groundwater withdrawals, all of which affect river flows. Post-1950 water rights will be regulated off or prevented from turning on. Wyoming hydrographer-commissioners will continue to administer reservoir storage and post-1950 diversions throughout the spring and work with affected water users until the administration is lifted.
As provided in the compact, domestic uses less than one-half acre in area and livestock uses, including stock reservoirs less than 20 acre-feet in capacity, are excluded from this administration. The release noted these excluded rights could be subject to future regulation to satisfy priority calls by senior Wyoming water rights.
Beginning May 5, 2026, Wyoming hydrographer-commissioners have worked to record the current storage levels of reservoirs with post-1950 water rights. Going forward, those reservoirs can continue to accrue storage so long as post-1950 storage gained after the interstate call on May 5 remains in storage until either the water is released to satisfy the Montana call or Montana lifts the call because Tongue River Reservoir will fill.
Reservoirs with unfulfilled pre-1950 water rights can continue to store water and that storage will not be subject to release to satisfy Montana’s call. However, that storage and other direct flow rights could be subject to regulation to satisfy priority calls by senior Wyoming water rights.
The priority administration will be carried out pursuant to state law by hydrographer-commissioners assigned to various portions of the Tongue River Basin, working under the direction of Division II Superintendent David Schroeder.
The Wyoming State Engineer’s Office can be contacted at:
Jack Morey, deputy state engineer, 307-777-5032, jack.morey2@wyo.gov
David Schroeder, Division II superintendent, 307-674-7012, d.schroeder@wyo.gov
Jeff Cowley, interstate streams administrator, 307-777-1942, jeff.cowley@wyo.gov
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