Page 31 - Flathead Beacon // 4.1.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM BUSINESS APRIL 1, 2015 | 31
Last month, the Whitefish City Council identified the 1 percent resort tax increase as the most equitable fund- ing measure to pay for the easement in Haskill Basin, where the city derives 75 percent of its municipal water supply.
The council reached that decision after considering three funding op- tions – the resort tax increase, a water rate increase or a water revenue bond – and Whitefish voters will either agree or disagree in a special election April 28. Mail ballots will be sent out April 8 to the city’s 4,133 registered voters.
If approved, the city’s resort tax on lodging, restaurant food and drinks and retail items would increase from 2 percent to 3 percent.
Muhlfeld said the council’s rea- soning was that it was more equita- ble to distribute the financial burden through a resort tax increase affect- ing the half-million visitors Whitefish draws annually than on the backs of 5,200 households.
And while there has been no oppo- sition to the goal of protecting Haskill Basin from development, preserving its recreational opportunities and pub- lic access, there is disagreement over whether a resort tax increase is the best funding mechanism, particularly from retailers.
Mike Gwiazdon, president and CEO of Sportsman & Ski Haus, said it took his business four years to recover when voters enacted the 2 percent re-
John Muhlfeld, mayor of Whitefish, speaks about protecting Haskill Basin’s water during a press conference at Depot Park in Whitefish. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
resort tax collections are used for street projects, 25 percent is rebated to prop- erty owners, 5 percent is set aside for park improvements, and the remaining 5 percent helps administer the tax.
Whitefish homeowners receive an average annual rebate of $126 from the current 2 percent resort tax, and under a 1 percent increase the prop- erty tax rebate would increase to $180, Muhlfeld said.
Earlier this year, the Haskill proj- ect received a funding boost from the U.S. Forest Service, which ranks such projects for funding through its Forest Legacy Program, awarding grants to states to purchase permanent conser- vation easements.
The agency has given the Haskill Basin Watershed Project its No. 1 spot, positioning it to receive $7 million in Legacy Project funding. An additional $2 million will come from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Habitat Conser- vation Plan Land Acquisition Program. Together, the grants give the project sig- nificant purchase toward raising the $17 million needed to buy the development rights from Stoltze by the end of 2015, leaving a balance of about $8 million.
“That’s about 38 cents on the dol- lar for Whitefish, and I think that’s a pretty darn good deal,” Muhlfeld said. “As a community we consistently set a high bar for ourselves. I do think we can meet this goal.”
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sort tax in 1995, and with the Canadian dollar falling in value he’s seen a de- cline in business.
“I’m not against taking care of our water. I’m not against doing what it takes to get that done. And I don’t think any of us are. We just think the resort tax is not the answer and it is going to be very punishing to the retailers of our community,” Gwiazdon said.
Ron Brunk, owner of Glacier Cy- clery and Nordic in downtown White- fish, likewise supports the easement. It will protect access to a recreation area containing mountain biking and Nordic ski trails, and will bene-
fit his business.
Still, he said, the resort tax, at least
initially, will affect his business when it’s implemented.
“I would prefer another direction rather than the resort tax,” he said during a Feb. 17 city council meeting. “It took a while for business to come back after the resort tax was based and I do believe it will come back again after this.”
Muhlfeld explained that White- fish’s resort tax has raised $25.8 mil- lion in the past two decades, with tax revenue increasing at an average of 6 percent each year. He said 75 percent of
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