Resort Tax allocations upcoming with new structure, schedule

Feedback and public comment due Wednesday, May 29

EBS STAFF

On Tuesday and Thursday, June 4 and 6, the Big Sky Resort Area District will hold its annual session to allocate grants to nonprofits.

The June 4 session will be a work session running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the June 6 session will include final award decisions, scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Both events are open to the public at The Wilson Hotel. Final details are yet to be determined, but allocations will follow a different schedule and structure than last year.

“The nonprofit grant review meetings this year will allow for more meaningful discussions between board members,” stated Jenny Muscat, BSRAD deputy director, in an email to EBS.

This year, 18 sponsoring nonprofits applied for 33 grants, totaling more than $8.1 million. On BSRAD’s allocations webpage, community members can rank and prioritize the projects they believe will have the strongest impact on the community, by category.

Project requests are broken into eight impact areas, according to the webpage. “Pick each impact area, get to know the projects, and select the ones you’d like to see funded through Resort Tax dollars. You may also rank them in order of importance to you,” the webpage states.

The eight impact areas—two more than last year—are arts and culture, conservation, economic development, education and child care, health and safety, housing, public works, and recreation.

Community members can submit public comment expressing reasons support or opposition for a project, through two forms: by email to PublicComment@ResortTax.org until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29, or by speaking live at the allocations sessions.

“Public comment is a great way for the community members to get involved in what is happening at BSRAD,” Muscat stated. “We look forward to the public staying engaged as we make important decisions throughout the year.”