Senate supports 1 per cent resort tax for infrastructure

HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Senate has passed a bill allowing resort communities with fewer than 5,500 residents to temporarily levy an additional 1 per cent resort tax to fund water, sewer, road, public service or other infrastructure projects.

The Senate passed the bill 33-16 on Tuesday. It now goes to the House.

Resort taxes can be levied on the retail cost of many goods and services in smaller towns whose economies rely mostly on businesses catering to tourists or people travelling through to get to tourist destinations. The taxes cannot be levied on groceries and medicine.

Those communities can vote to levy a 3 per cent resort tax. This bill would allow them to vote to add a temporary additional 1 per cent tax to raise money for specific projects. The tax would end after the project is funded.