Resort tax collections spike in September

Whitefish resort tax collections saw a large bump in September after being down the month before. 

Subtracting out the increase that results from the 1 percent increase in the tax that began in the July, resort tax collections were up by 9.4 percent or about $20,000 for September compared with the same month last year. August resort tax collections were down 11 percent because of fire closures in Glacier National Park, according to City Manager Chuck Stearns.

The 3 percent tax is collected at restaurants and bars, retail shops and lodging establishments. Beginning in July the tax increased from 2 to 3 percent.

Total collections for the month of September were just under $360,000. The additional 1 percent in resort tax resulted in and increase in the total dollars collected by the city of $146,000 when compared with last year.

For the first three months of the fiscal year, overall resort tax collections are down by 2 percent or about $16,000, when compared with the 2 percent tax last year.

Collections from the tax are used for street reconstruction, property-tax rebates for city property owners, for city parks and a conservation easement in Haskill