‘A lot going on’ as Resort Tax board also finalizes ballot language for potential bonds
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
The Madison Valley Hospital District filed a lawsuit against the Big Sky Resort Area District, the BSRAD board announced during its Feb. 4 meeting.
MVHD filed on Dec. 16, and BSRAD was served on Jan. 24. The suit alleges that the BSRAD board violated open meeting laws by holding closed sessions to discuss their August 2024 lawsuit related to Big Sky residents’ potential withdrawal from MVHD.
“These accusations are not true,” said Daniel Bierschwale, BSRAD executive director, reading aloud a written statement on Feb. 4. “As you all know, BSRAD had many discussions related to forming a wellness district… These discussions and decisions were all made in public meetings held by this board following published notices of each meeting.”
The hospital district has become a polarizing subject between the Ennis and Big Sky communities, as Big Sky’s Madison County residents try to withdraw their property taxes from the MVHD. The withdrawal would divert future property tax dollars from supporting the Madison Valley Medical Center in Ennis, toward a new “wellness district” supporting Big Sky health and wellness organizations.
Bierschwale said that BSRAD has heard and valued public comment, and made its decisions in open forums with meetings recorded and available on BSRAD’s website.
He added that a BSRAD subcommittee has worked with legal counsel and with Madison County residents regarding its lawsuit filed in August against Madison County that alleges Madison County officials mishandled a petition signed by more than 200 Big Sky residents.
“This board held several closed, executive session meetings with BSRAD’s counsel to provide the board with updates on the status of the lawsuit… Each these meetings were informational only. The board never took any actions in those closed sessions. All actions of this board have always been conducted in open meetings following proper notice to the public with the opportunity for the public to participate,” Bierschwale said.
During the Feb. 4 meeting, the board designated vice chair Sarah Blechta to work with BSRAD attorney Kim Beatty to address the lawsuit.
“This lawsuit is without merit,” Bierschwale said. “But BSRAD must now defend itself against the action taken by the Madison Valley Hospital District.”
Officials from Madison Valley Medical Center—which shares board members with MVHD, according to the district’s most recently posted board minutes from July 2023—did not respond to EBS’ request for comment in time for this story’s publication.
Board chair Kevin Germain urged the community to voice feedback if they oppose BSRAD’s involvement in wellness district efforts. He said he’s heard “100% support” from his conversations in the community, and added that the board intends to follow the will of its voters.
BSRAD must file its response within 21 days of the Jan. 24 notice.
“This is new territory for Resort Tax,” Germain said.
Resort Tax board un-bundles Cold Smoke, BSCO park renovation on May 2025 ballot
In early January, the narrative that potential infrastructure projects would be “bundled” together into the same ballot items for May 2025 voters seemed headline-worthy.
Voters would decide in one single ballot item whether BSRAD takes on long-term public debt to fund up to $45 million to acquire land for the Cold Smoke housing project, and up to $6.8 million to fund renovations of the Big Sky Community Park. The board tentatively decided to bundle the projects together on the ballot, as opposed to allowing voters to decide separately on the projects. Nonprofit leaders for both projects voiced a willingness to work together in their education efforts for voters, which helped lead the board to its decision.
However, the board changed its approach on Feb. 4. The projects are now slated to appear separately on May 2025 ballots.
BSRAD’s legal counsel found a way to combine the two separate Cold Smoke ballot measures—it previously appeared that Cold Smoke’s infrastructure and capital costs would need to be voted on separately—and in combining up to $60 million in Cold Smoke funding, the board separated it from community park renovations. Board members explained the separation was made in response to feedback from the community.
The board believes the ballot language will be specific and clear for voters. For example, the Cold Smoke ballot item will directly ask if voters are “FOR authorizing the issuance of bonds for the Cold Smoke workforce housing project,” or “AGAINST” the same proposition.
While Resort Tax is unable to advocate for or against projects on the ballot, the board is focused on educating the public ahead of the upcoming election.
A three-phased education campaign will be called “Livable Big Sky; let’s shape it together,” Bierschwale said, adding that BSRAD is borrowing strategies from 2019 efforts to educate the community on the option to levy an additional 1%-for-infrastructure resort tax, which voters ultimately ratified.
Board member John Zirkle discussed the challenges of educating a wide range of Big Sky’s 2,700 registered voters.
“It seems like it’s really tricky to get past 250 to 300 really engaged folks,” Zirkle said. He voiced a desire to create informal ways of educating the community to reach beyond those who typically follow along.
At the beginning of the meeting, Germain commended BSRAD’s full-time staff for their efforts across bonding, hospital district issues and regular operations.
“There’s a lot going on… The amount of work that’s happening with our team here is just absolutely awesome with the different initiatives that are going on,” Germain said.
Germain said in 20-plus years, he has never seen the Big Sky community so aligned and motivated across various initiatives. He also thanked the community for staying informed and involved.
“I can see some of these huge rewards if we can accomplish some of these big objectives and efforts that we have going on… Exciting times.”
