Proponents of hospital district withdrawal urge public comment from Big Sky residents
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
On Monday, Jan. 13 at 10 a.m., the Madison County Commission will hold a hearing in Virginia City regarding the withdrawal of a small Big Sky subdivision from the Madison Valley Hospital District.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because in January 2024, a wider group of Big Sky’s Madison County residents petitioned to withdraw from MVHD and earned a Virginia City hearing—only for the hearing to be adjourned unexpectedly due to a disagreement on the required signature count.
The Big Sky Wellness Coalition sued in August, and the original petition is now under consideration by a judge to determine its validity for a hearing, according to Daniel Bierschwale, executive director of the Big Sky Resort Area District.
Now, the Silvertip community in Moonlight Basin is attempting a similar, albeit smaller scale, withdrawal with potential wide-reaching implications. Despite Silvertip’s size, its petition is expected to advance further than the 2024 initiative.
“It will be the first time that the Madison [County] commissioners will have heard testimony and remarks from the public regarding the potential withdrawal of those properties from the hospital district,” Bierschwale told EBS. BSRAD has been supportive of the wellness coalition due to its aim to align Big Sky’s property tax dollars with its local health care services, which would allow Resort Tax to focus its funding on other community priorities—as outlined in the 2023 Big Sky Roadmap plan.
A Madison Valley website encourages the community to stand against the efforts lined up in the Big Sky Roadmap, including Big Sky’s withdrawal from MVHD.
“If Big Sky property owners succeed in withdrawing from the district, nearly $2.9 million annually in property taxes would be diverted away from MVMC. This shift in funding would have severe and far-reaching consequences,” the website states, listing an “immediate budget shortfall and operating loss for MVMC, jeopardizing vital healthcare services” among other impacts to Madison County and Big Sky residents.
Big Sky leaders argue that MVMC is not reasonably accessible to the Big Sky community.
“This issue is critically important to our local community in Big Sky,” stated Sarah Blechta, vice chair of the BSRAD board, in a statement emailed to EBS. “… While the issue of whether these residents are allowed to withdraw is limited to the boundaries of the Silvertip subdivision, the overall issue being considered by the commissioners directly impacts the Big Sky community as a whole, including whether our community members are entitled to direct their tax dollars to the community in which they live and receive services. We encourage our Big Sky community members to participate and make their voices heard.”
Public comment can be submitted by attending in-person, or virtually by sending an email to commissioners ahead of the meeting. Meeting agenda and virtual attendance are available online.
The hearing will be held at the Virginia City Community Center at 119 W. Idaho Street.
Leaders closely involved with the withdrawal effort declined to comment ahead of Monday’s hearing.
