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City approves park facility fees increase, new non-resident fee

by WHITNEY ENGLAND
Whitefish Pilot | January 26, 2022 1:00 AM

The fees to reserve parks and facilities in Whitefish have increased, including the addition of a non-resident rate.

The increase in fees ranges from $5 to $50 depending on the type of park or facility, resulting in a fee range of $30 to $300 to reserve facilities or parks in Whitefish. There will also be a new additional 20% non-resident fee to reserve Whitefish park facilities, that applies to anyone living outside Whitefish city limits, as well as a couple of changes to certain event fees.

City Council in a recent meeting unanimously approved the changes to park reservation fees. The new fees went into effect on Jan. 4.

Whitefish Parks Director Maria Butts says the city last increased fees in 2016, while Depot Park fees have not changed since 2013. The parks department reviewed the current fees by assessing associated costs, comparing them to other similar municipalities in Montana and looking at the history of the fees charged for each park and facility in the city.

In the meeting council and city staff discussed the non-resident fee and if there were ways to apply the non-resident fee to second homeowners or to potentially apply a steeper fee to those from out of state using the facilities. It was determined that it wasn’t feasible to differentiate that or reasonable to charge more for out-of-state visitors.

City Manager Dana Smith explained the reason for the additional non-resident fee is actually due to residents paying taxes to the city and non-residents not having that tax burden while still able to utilize Whitefish parks.

“When you think about why we’re going to charge a resident that’s outside city limits differently, it’s because residents here are actually paying the property tax,” Smith said. “So somebody in Kalispell is not paying property tax to support our parks, and this is really a cost recovery fee for the department to maintain those parks…

“In Montana we have to set fees that are reasonably related to the cost of the service provided,” she added.

Though Councilor Giuseppe Caltabiano stated he would like to see an increased fee for second homeowners and out-of-state visitors, he was glad the city was adding a non-resident fee.

“I appreciate the fact that we’re starting to differentiate from non-residents and residents, that’s good news,” he said.

Additionally, city gazebo rentals will no longer be reserved as half-day or full-day reservations. A full-day reservation is still available, but the city is moving to time blocks for partial-day rentals of gazebos. There will be three different five-hour time periods gazebos can be rented every day, and the fee will remain the same as it was before for a half-day to now a five-hour time block.

“This allows for flexibility of scheduling and more rental availability,” Butts told council.

The non-resident fee is a new addition to the fee schedule, and the city also added two new park fees. That includes a fee for events that span multiple weekends where the set-up remains at a park overnight — this is now referred to as an “Occupancy Fee.” The other new fee is a set-up and take-down fee if that occurs outside of the day of the event. And the alcohol permit will now be charged according to how many people are anticipated to attend the event when before it was a flat $20 fee.

When the proposed changes went before the Park Board in November, board members unanimously recommended approval after listening to public comment.

To view the full fee schedule visit the Parks and Recreation Department at cityofwhitefish.org