Page 25 - Flathead Beacon // 3.4.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM OPINION UNCOMMON GROUND Mike Jopek
Clean Water Plus Tax Relief
MARCH 4, 2015 | 25
ADVERTISEMENT
Rotary~
MAKING OF A COMMUNITY!
Ever wonder how projects in the community get ac- complished? Ever think who is behind the efforts that make our community a better place? Rotary has been the driving force in numerous community projects:
• Coordinates and administers Ro- tary Basketball for over 900 youths annually and has since 1978
• Raised funds to construct the Babe Ruth Baseball Fields at Kidsports- Rotary is the longest running sponsor of a Babe Ruth baseball team in Kalispell
• Major donor to Glacier Symphony & Chorale youth programs
• Supports Boys Scout Troop and sponsored a new troop
• Ring bells for Salvation Army annually
• Built the handicap ramp at the Friendship House
• Donated to local Food Banks, Flathead Youth Home, Serious Ju Ju Skatepark, Hockaday Center for the Arts and Central Museum
• Installed a bench and clock in Depot Park
• Assisted in rebuilding Conrad Mansion stone wall
• Helped construct the Lone Pine Overlook Walkway
• Purchases and distributes dictionaries to all Montana third graders
• Raised funds to construct Miracle League Field at the Kidsports complex
• Assisted the United Way in construction of the Youth Center and the Big Brothers Big Sisters offices
All this by just ONE of the SIX Flathead Valley Rotary Clubs!
Evergreen - Tues. 12:00pm @ Perkins
Whitefish - Tues. 12:00pm @ Moose Lodge 642
Bigfork - Wed. 12:00pm @ Methodist Church
Columbia Falls - Wed. 12:00pm @ Back Room
Kalispell Daybreak - Thur. 7:00am @ Buffalo Hills Golf Course Kalispell Noon - Thur. 12:00pm @ Hilton Garden
THIS IS THE BEST BARGAIN I have ever heard of, said Doug Chadwick as supporters rallied to permanently protect Haskill Basin, the source for 75 percent of Whitefish’s pub- lic drinking water.
Chadwick referred, in part, to a bar- gain price that Whitefish would pay for a permanent and publicly accessed con- servation easement on more than 3,000 acres just uphill of the municipality.
Locally, protecting Haskill Basin costs 38 cents on the dollar. The balance was secured from federal grants and landowner donations. Whitefish will ask voters to decide whether to raise the re- sort tax 1 percentage point to secure the remaining $8 million and close the wa- tershed protection deal.
Whitefish is the only eligible juris- diction in Montana that has yet to enact the full 3 percent resort tax on luxury items. Local tourist taxes cannot exceed 3 percent by state law and Whitefish’s resort designation sunsets in 10 years. A 2004 extension was approved by 76 per- cent of the voters.
By a 56 percent margin, voters in 1996 enacted the resort tax to collect revenues from city shoppers. It taxes more than 500,000 tourists who stay and shop in Whitefish each year, and it taxes the fewer than 5,000 voters who live in their homes.
The tax applies to items like art, bi- cycles, jewelry, clothing, lodging and prepared foods and beverages. It does not apply to things like groceries, medi- cine, furniture, automobiles, tools, or hardware like plumbing and lumber.
Since 1996 the resort tax has contrib- uted $14.4 million to street and sidewalk repairs, $6.6 million to property tax re- lief, and $1.6 million to parks and mer- chant relief for collections.
Tourist taxes helped pay for repairs to avenues like Baker, Columbia, Cen- tral, and Colorado. The funds recon- structed streets like Seventh, Railway and East Second. On the docket are roads like Somers, Evergreen, Karrow and West Seventh.
Resort taxes improved parks like Riverside, Baker Street, Grouse Moun-
tain, Kay Beller and Soroptimist.
In April voters will choose whether to raise the tourist tax 1 point to 3 per- cent, on par with other resort communi-
ties across Montana.
If voters choose to protect the wa-
tershed, property tax relief increases by 50 percent. The total property tax relief would increase to more than $10 million over the decade.
The $1 million in annual tax relief applies to all property owners in the city. Business owners on the strip or down- town get relief, homeowners in tradi- tional neighborhoods or high-end com- munities get relief, and developers with raw land or contractors with business equipment all get the tax breaks.
Last year, the tax credit in White- fish was 29.24 mills, or $126 on a smaller $175,000 market value home. With voter approval, tax relief increases 50 percent this year and continues for a decade, as will the funds kept by merchants for col- lection. Road and park repairs remain constant.
Richard Solberg wrote in a local newspaper that the Haskill Basin deal is a “no-brainer.” Solberg asserted that, “The increase will not change shopping habits.”
Locals supporting Whitefish busi- nesses have a new incentive to shop lo- cally as the bulk of the proposed 1-point increase protects their public drinking water.
If April voters opt for the 1 percent- age point increase in tourist taxes, over the decade locals can anticipate a total of $18 million for roads and sidewalks, over $10 million in property tax relief, over $2 million in merchant collection relief, $1.4 million for parks, and a permanent- ly accessed Haskill Basin that protects their public water supply.
Towns across Montana seek tourist revenues, but none of this public water- shed protection, street and park repairs, or property tax relief occurs without lo- cals supporting the business merchants that collect the funds. If citizens want clean water and tax relief, there is a fresh incentive in town to support local mer- chants.
“LOCALS SUPPORTING WHITEFISH BUSINESSES HAVE A NEW INCENTIVE TO SHOP LOCALLY AS THE BULK OF THE PROPOSED 1-POINT INCREASE PROTECTS THEIR PUBLIC DRINKING WATER.”
Mike (Uncommon Ground) Jopek and Dave (Closing Range) Skinner often fall on op- posite sides of the fence when it comes to political and outdoor issues. Their columns alternate each week in the Flathead Beacon.