Tourism assessment a perfect compromise
Letter from the editor
For reasons that don't need to be explained during this time of economic strife, there are those in Bigfork who have literally laughed out loud when I've mentioned something about the resort tax committee over the last six months.
It's a simple fact that when times get tough, people find themselves less inclined to care about the status of village sidewalks and more concerned about gainful employment and paying the bills.
This, of course, raises the classic chicken or the egg argument, where some in town contend that sprucing up some of Bigfork's infrastructure would contribute to the economy, while others feel that slapping any sort of additional tax burden on already stretched people is an accident waiting to happen.
With the stalling of the resort tax idea, a new — and very reasonable — idea has come up: A Tourism Promotion Assessment. Taking a cue from Whitefish, an idea for a voluntary 1 percent assessment — not a tax — is being floated. Such a levy would provide the best of both worlds by letting tourist dollars fund the upkeep of the tourist infrastructure while hard up locals could simply opt out of the fee when buying a burger.
The plan is not without flaws. It was brought up at a Bigfork Steering Committee meeting that nefarious business owners could charge the percentage for "tourism promotion" and just keep the cash and there's always the chance that no businesses will want to participate anyway.
But it's an idea and it's a way for us to take our fate in our own hands instead of waiting for the state or feds or whoever to send us some kind of bailout. Doug Averill said in that BSC meeting that what was needed was a Bigfork Stimulus Package, but instead of wringing our hands, he proposed that this industrious community take the reins and figure one out.
It's worked in Whitefish — and if we're honest, sometimes Bigfork seems to be hidden from view behind Whitefish's gleam — and it surely can't hurt to give it a shot here.
—Alex Strickland