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Bill would let resort-area communities use optional resort-tax infrastructure funds for workforce housing
Summary
Supporters said House Bill 162 would add workforce and community housing to the definition of infrastructure eligible for an optional 1% resort-tax allocation (with voter approval), enabling resort communities to bond and leverage local funds for long-term housing projects; proponents urged a do-pass recommendation, opponents raised no formal objections in the hearing.
House Bill 162 would add "workforce and community housing projects" to the statutory definition of infrastructure eligible for spending from the optional 1% resort-tax infrastructure allocation, proponents told the Senate Local Government Committee.
Representative Walsh, the bill sponsor, said the measure does not create a new tax but permits communities that already have or may seek the optional 1% infrastructure allocation to place a ballot question before local electors allowing those funds to be used for housing projects designated as workforce or community housing.
Jackie Haines, director of economic and strategic development for the Big Sky Resort Area District, said resort communities face exceptional seasonal demand and that workforce housing is critical to sustaining local economies. Haines said the resort tax is locally governed and still requires voter approval before funds are directed to a specific project.
John Zirkle, a Big Sky teacher and Resort Tax Board director, gave a concrete example: he said the 2024 median price of a Big Sky condo was $941,250, and argued that at current prices many essential workers cannot afford to live in the communities they serve.
David O'Connor, executive director of the Big Sky Community Housing Trust, described the trust's results to date (52 permanently affordable purchased homes, 25 low-income apartments, 22 deed restrictions preserved) and said resort-tax-enabled land purchases and long-term funding tools are needed to build housing at a scale that addresses a local deficit he put at roughly 1,100 homes.
Committee members asked how resort-tax funds could be leveraged. Proponents described scenarios in which local public contributions (including land acquired with resort-tax revenue) reduce total project cost and make bonding feasible; they said resort-tax funds can be paired with private capital and federal programs to scale projects.
Representative Walsh closed by noting the bill affects 13 resort-area communities across Montana and called for a do-pass recommendation. The hearing concluded without a recorded committee vote.
What’s next: Sponsor requested a do-pass recommendation; no committee vote was recorded in the hearing.
