A new bill in the Montana legislature would allow residents and their tax dollars to move around more freely to access these services.
The Senate taxation committee heard first testimony on Senate Bill 260 Wednesday. Republican Senator Greg Hertz of Polson is sponsoring the bill that opens up a process for property owners to move between school and hospital districts.
“In some areas across the state, significant tax dollars are paid to districts that residents have a hard time getting to geographically,” Hertz said.
One example that stands out is in Madison County, where a portion of Big Sky residents fall into school and hospital districts with facilities in Ennis–on the other side of the Madison Mountain Range from their homes.
Maggie Good, a Big Sky resident and chair of the Big Sky Owners Association, voiced support for the bill to Senators during the hearing.
“To spend 2 hours and 180 miles when you are sick is ridiculous. Nobody is going to do that if there was a hospital that was 15 minutes away,” Good said.
The highly-valued properties of Big Sky residents within Madison County make up a significant portion of the overall hospital and school tax revenue. Leaving the districts means their tax dollars would leave as well.
Lindsey Graden, an Ennis teacher, opposed the bill.
“Redistricting would significantly raise the taxes of residents of Ennis creating a financial burden that could be devastating to many working class families, the eldery as well as decrease the services that the school and the hospital provide," Graden said.
This bill comes on the heels of a recently denied petition by the Madison County commission to remove a Big Sky subdivision from the Madison Valley Hospital District.
