The May vote will determine if Big Sky will form its own hospital district
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
Voters will not see additional taxes if they vote in favor of forming a new hospital district in Big Sky. Leaders in a Big Sky Resort Area District meeting on Feb. 11 clarified that any additional taxes won’t happen without eventual voter approval and by the elected Big Sky Wellness District boards for both Madison and Gallatin counties.
A vote on each county’s May ballots will determine if Big Sky residents seal the deal on a long fight, in local and state government, to form a new hospital district and redirect tax dollars from Big Sky’s Madison County residents, who’ve supported the Madison Valley Hospital District, to local services instead. If voters choose to support a new district formation, taxes from Madison County residents within Big Sky will gradually shift to the Big Sky Wellness District. Now, BSRAD is working to educate residents about how this vote impacts residents.
“I do think it’s important to kind issue a correction about what we’ve been previously saying. The Gallatin [County] side, when they vote to form a hospital district, it will not [implement] any additional taxes at the outset,” Jackie Haines, BSRAD’s director of economic and strategic development, told the board. “For that board to implement taxes, in the Gallatin County portion, that will have to be voter-approved.”
Haines repeated the clarification again, and BSRAD board member John Zirkle joined in for the third time.
“So this election: no new taxes,” Haines and Zirkle confirmed in unison.
Livable Big Sky, a campaign led by Resort Tax alongside community organizations to inform voters about ballot choices, will hold several sessions over the next few months focusing on the hospital district vote. While Gallatin County voters in Big Sky will vote whether they want to form a new hospital district, Big Sky’s Madison County voters will decide whether they will formally leave the MVHD. A separate item for both counties will be the election of a board of trustees for each district.
In a Feb. 20 Livable Big Sky press release, Kiernan Volden, director of programs for community health organization Wellness in Action, shared how a vote supporting formation would benefit residents.
“This is about keeping Big Sky livable for everyone; families, workers, seniors and visitors,” Volden stated. She noted that between 2010 and 2020, Big Sky’s population grew 54% and is expected to grow another 20% in the next 10 years.
“The ballot measures in May are a critical and rare opportunity for voters to establish a mechanism that not only keeps local dollars in the community but creates sustainable access to funding allowing all of us to meet our community’s growing health and wellness needs,” Volden stated.
Kelly Halmes, administrator of Bozeman Health’s Big Sky Medical Center and Gallatin County resident, expressed support for a potential new hospital district in the release.
“A livable Big Sky depends on growing access to essential healthcare at home within our own community,” Halmes stated. “Investing in a local hospital/wellness district ensures care that reflects our community’s priorities, serves people at every stage of life, and is guided by the people who live and work here.”
Sessions about the hospital district decision will be held throughout March and April, many with familiar alliterative names like “Pizza with a Purpose” and “Ballots and Breakfast.” Livable Big Sky held a similar series of events in 2025, discussing the renewal of Big Sky’s 3% resort tax, the Cold Smoke Bond, and the Big Sky Community Park Bond.
A candidate forum for various local government positions on the ballot, including the potential new hospital district boards, will be held on April 21 at 5:30 p.m. at The Waypoint.
