Imagine paying taxes for services you don't use. That's what some residents in Big Sky say they have been doing for years. Now, a bill being considered by the legislature could change that. The bill is controversial, spanning two counties and two communities with one road at the center of it all.
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Big Sky resident Heather Morris lives in the part of Big Sky that is in Madison County.
“We moved here before we had a high school, before we had a medical center, and those are things that have benefited our community,” Morris says.
We met at the B2 UrgentCare center at Big Sky Resort. She is discouraged by her four kids attending Big Sky schools and coming to this clinic for health care. She's been paying taxes for Ennis schools and Madison Valley Hospital for two decades.
“With all of that, I feel like it is imperative that our tax dollars benefit the community that is taxed for treating us and educating our kids,” Morris says.
Senate Bill 260 would allow some Big Sky residents to vote on redirecting their tax dollars from Madison County special service districts to local Big Sky services.
Danny Bierschwale, Big Sky Resort tax executive director, explains, “I know many of these districts have been set up in some cases for up to 70 years. No one set out with the intention of creating this scenario; it's just, in all reality, a result of change within our counties and Montana. What we're doing with this bill is trying to rectify that.”
SB260 is controversial, and many disputes center around Jack Creek Road, a private route that connects Big Sky and Ennis and that only some people can travel.
“It is just not reasonable for me to drive the Jack Creek Road; I have two kids who have their driver's licenses. Driving the Jack Creek Road for 172 days of the school year is not anything that I would like them to have to do,” Morris says.
Some folks opposed to SB260 in Ennis made a testimonial they shared with me, calling Jack Creek Road a “well-traveled essential link.”
I gained access through the gates and journeyed from Big Sky to Ennis via Jack Creek Road. Traveling in an SUV news car, I noticed that the unpathed road was narrow at some points and twisted down into Ennis.
After an hour, I reached the Madison Valley Medical Center in Ennis and met up with CEO Allen Rohrback, who said the medical center wanted to expand services offered in the Big Sky. The medical center collects $1.7 million from Big Sky residents.
“We think there is a lot of opportunity to collaborate with the Big Sky other healthcare providers and the healthcare community. We think there is probably an opportunity to collaborate somewhat with the resort tax board. But I think it has to start with the failure of Senate Bill 260 so that it forces the two communities to solve this,” Rohrback says.
Rohrback says that as Big Sky continues to grow, “Their need for Ennis, we believe will become larger and larger, so the hospital district is very much committed to being a part of that solution.”
I met with John Way, the owner of The Tackle Shop in Ennis and a town commissioner. He told me SB260 will affect locals and even the state.
“It just sets a bad precedent in the state. It takes a small voting population, removes the tax burden from them, and spreads it out over the rest of the county. It would be a real detriment to Ennis,” Way says.
Meanwhile, the future of Jack Creek Road remains unclear; the logistics are muddied.
“[Maybe] become more liberal with road passes, something like that, maybe that is a safe middle ground, but I don't know if the eminent domain and opening it to the public is the right move either,” Way says.
Back in Big Sky, Morris says she wants Ennis residents to understand her point of view as she lives and uses services there.
“We were going to be discovered at some point and I understand it, but this growth is really benefiting everybody. I don't want to leave Madison County. I want my property taxes to continue to go there, but for these two special service districts, that's what I am looking to stay on my side of the mountain,” Morris says.
