BIG SKY – From an outside perspective, no one would blame the members
of the Big Sky Resort Area District tax board if they decided to hang up their
boots for a stretch, relishing in a year marked by measurable progress.
Those landmarks are certainly worth celebrating: most recently, they ushered
in a new resort tax ordinance that will, for the foreseeable future, dictate
consumer and vendor taxes with a clarity that escaped previous ordinances;
seeing through a Logan Simpson-commissioned community survey that will
potentially dictate the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars in Big Sky
over the next decade; successfully lobbying and following through on the
passing of SB 241 in the 2019 Legislative Session, allowing for an incremental
1 percent resort tax levy for the purpose of infrastructure; and judiciously
distributing just shy of $8.5 million in collections between nearly $11.5
million in appropriation requests, to name a few.
At the BSRAD’s Nov. 13 open board meeting, the idea of complacency in
the wake of domino successes came crashing down as it pertains to Ordinance
98-01 and the Logan Simpson Our Big Sky Community Visioning Strategy in
particular. Some might argue the legwork for the latter hasn’t even reached a
halfway mark.
“We solicited the community to tell us what [community] priorities
were, we heard from them, now the real work begins,” said BSRAD District
Manager Daniel Bierschwale.
Rolling out measures of compliance and accountability, specifically,
dominated the Nov. 13 discussion—as the saying goes, and quite appropriate for
a town located in the mountains of Montana, “you can lead a horse to water, but
you can’t make him drink.”
Ensuring compliance for the ordinance appears a more approachable
hurdle, especially now that the steps behind the “Three R’s,” Rules,
Regulations and Registrations, have become crystal clear.
Still, as of the meeting, only 50-60 Big Sky businesses out of an estimated 1,000 had registered via the new online registration portal, although the ordinance does not go into effect until Nov. 25.
BSRAD District Manager Daniel Bierschwale has been a veritable game changer for the efficiency of the board since his onboarding in June. PHOTO BY MICHAEL SOMERBY
More daunting, however, is ensuring the Our Big Sky Community
Visioning Strategy isn’t shelved in the BSRAD archives, but instead sees to
“continuing the momentum created through the process, including increased
community engagement,” Bierschwale said.
“I feel an obligation,” said BSRAD Chairperson Kevin Germain. “We
funded this report and if it goes nowhere then shame on us. I’m hoping that we
do something to help this report move forward.”
Present at the meeting was BSRAD outside counsel Kimberly Beatty, who pointed out BSRAD has no jurisdiction in the form of governance.
“I am concerned that the resort tax district is not the appropriate
body to be discussing governance issues in the community, or how to implement
this plan. The role of the resort tax is specific, it is funding … you were not
given the approval to act as a city council or government,” Beatty said. “Your
role is to fund projects and you can use this document to help guide how you’re
going to fund, what you’re going to fund, and the priority you’re putting on
projects.”
Beatty noted the issue of governance is something community leaders
need to figure out, and is not the district’s sole responsibility.
“Clearly we have a void in this community that needs to be filled,”
said Vice Chair Steve Johnson. “The only point I’d make is that in exercising
our defined mission, we have to allocate funding with some plausible means of
accountability for delivering the results that are sought [in the Community
Visioning Strategy] … That ain’t governance, but we do have a responsibility to
see that it’s done in a credible fashion. Certainly for the large things being
asked for in this report.”
Other notable items included a discussion of costs and options for the
tentative BSRAD office remodel as well as discussion on a working first-ever
draft of bylaws, especially where a potential option for proxy voting is
concerned—currently, a member of the board must be present in order to cast a
vote.
“The bylaws is one of the governing documents that will help put into
place the foundations for a strong organization to grow and support community
needs, now and in the future,” Bierschwale said.
The board’s newest elected member, Ciara Wolfe, CEO of the Big Sky
Community Organization, warned against abusing the potential allowance of proxy
voting.
“I think we need to set very clear expectations about attendance for
the board,” Wolfe said. “[With proxies] then it’s very easy to sit on this
board and write in your vote and not have to be in front of the public
expressing your view … I think there’s so much more value to being here.”
The topic was tabled for a future open board meeting.