‘It’s just words’: trustee makes plea for funding after tax error left BSFD with budget shortfall
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
After nine months of handling budget problems due to a Gallatin County tax error, the Big Sky Fire District formally asked the county government for help.
Matt Dodd, Big Sky Fire District trustee, presented a request for $225,000 of Gallatin County dollars at the Madison-Gallatin Joint County Commission, starting with the history of the tax error discovered in September 2025.
A county spreadsheet error led to an $8.3 million over-collection of fire district taxes spanning four years. It also left the Big Sky Fire Department with a $2.3 million gap in its annual budget after the tax error was corrected. Since then, the department has cut projects and administrator salaries to make up for lost revenue, while declaring it would maintain the same service standards.
Dodd thanked County Commissioner Zach Brown for taking responsibility on behalf of Gallatin County at a February public forum about the cause and effects of the tax error.
“Zach, you came out to talk to the folks, and we appreciate that. We appreciate you showing up, taking accountability and saying, ‘this is what went wrong,’” Dodd said.
Still, the budget issue remained, he noted.
“We’ve cut everything we can cut, things we weren’t anticipating cutting. Things like personal protective equipment for our firefighters. Things like training for our firefighters who protect us every day,” Dodd said.
He continued, saying that despite Brown’s February apology, the fire district and the community are still handling the budget shortfall alone—and recently, with the help of Big Sky Resort Area District funding.
In April, BSFD met with BSRAD to discuss the need for further funding within the final year of BSRAD’s three-year, $3.55 million interlocal agreement to fund BSFD services. The fire district’s original ask was for $900,000 in additional funds, but BSRAD agreed to provide BSFD with half of the request and an additional contingency for a match.
If Gallatin County—or any other entity—contributes $225,000 to the fire district, BSRAD will match that amount, leading to an eventual fulfillment of the fire district’s ask of $900,000. The funds would be used for operating expenses, Dodd explained, like fuel for fire trucks and firefighting technology services.
Dodd noted that he appreciated the commission for its acknowledgement of the county’s mistake, but that there are more steps to make the situation better.
“Accountability takes two parts,” Dodd said. “It takes, one, apology, an acknowledgement … But the second part of that is taking action … It’s doing the thing you said you were gonna do.”
Gallatin County never promised any funding to rectify the situation. Still, Dodd said that an apology without action is not accountability.
“It’s just words,” Dodd said. “So what I’m here to say is Big Sky, this community, can’t bear this cost alone.”
Dodd ended his request noting that he’s not expecting an answer from Gallatin County today, but wanted to make the ask. Commissioners Brown and Jennifer Boyer did not respond to Dodd’s request during the public meeting.
After the meeting’s conclusion, Explore Big Sky asked the commissioners for comment.
Brown noted that the county is tasked with supporting more than 80 special purpose districts across Gallatin County. He said it could create a challenging precedent to provide such funding for an organization’s operations, adding that fulfilling the Big Sky Fire District’s request would be a “very unique and extraordinary” action for Gallatin County to take.
Jack Reaney contributed reporting to this story.
