Polson residents will have a chance to learn more about a proposed resort tax at a community meeting next month.
The Polson City Commission appointed a committee earlier this year to review the creation of a resort tax and residents vote on the proposal during a special election next February, according to committee chairman Rick LaPiana.
The six-person committee meets once a week and LaPiana said in the last month and a half they have created a basic structure for the tax. Unlike the resort tax in Whitefish, a tax in Polson would only be in effect six months of the year, from April 1 to Sept. 31. The 3 percent resort tax would eventually sunset in 10 or 20 years, unless voters chose to extend it.
Whitefish has had a resort tax since 1996 and since then it has brought in more than $25 million to the city for road improvements and property tax relief. In 2014, it brought in $2 million to the community. The tax is applied to “luxury” items, such as food and drink from restaurants and lodging, so it mostly impacts visitors.
Polson has considered a resort tax in the past but LaPiana said voters turned it down because they did not have all of the information they needed to make an informed decision. Any money gathered from the Polson resort tax would be used exclusively for road repairs and maintenance.
“If this doesn’t pass the costs of repairing the roads will fall exclusively on the local taxpayers,” he said, adding that more visitors means more wear and tear on local roads. “We’re growing and we’ve had some growing pains, but this will help offset some of the costs.”
The community meeting will take place at the Linderman Elementary School on Aug. 12 at 6:30 p.m.