EBS STAFF
Ballots for the 2023 school and special district election on May 2 were mailed out on Friday, giving voters in the Big Sky School District the chance to decide on a $19.85 million bond that would bring indoor athletic facilities up to the standards of Montana Class B.
An information session on the bond is scheduled for April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center.
The election is a mail ballot election, though active registered voters can vote in-person at the Gallatin County Elections office at the county courthouse on Main Street in Bozeman. Ballots must be received at the county elections office or a designated place of deposit by 8 p.m. on May 2, according to a Gallatin County press release.
Voters who choose to drop off their ballots rather than mail them or vote in-person can do so at the Gallatin County Elections Office, the Monforton School District Office or the Belgrade City Hall Finance Department, the release states.
The nearly $20 million bond includes a proposed second gymnasium that would seat 1,150, which is in line with nearby Class B high school gyms in Townsend, Big Timber and Whitehall, BSSD Superintendent Dustin Shipman told Explore Big Sky in March. The gym would also include an indoor walking track available to community members.
It would complete the third and final phase of the district’s master facilities plan. Phases one and two included the multipurpose turf field and track, and the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics laboratory.
Shipman said at the time that the bond’s additional tax impact will be $92.40 annually for every million dollars in taxable home value, or $7.70 per month.
