406 Forum: June 22, 2018

Fifteen of the 25 organizations that applied for resort tax funding were granted their full request at the final appropriations meeting on June 18. The board was particularly divided on appropriations for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Discovery Academy, Visit Big Sky and Gallatin Invasive Species Alliance. Given their role in the community, do you believe one of these entities should have received their full request, and why?

Rachel Boutsikaris
Big Sky, Montana

“They should have all been fully funded. Those are all things that can go back into the community, so I think that they should have received those appropriations. Having them go to community-based programs is great.”

Cassandra Marfia
Rio Rancho, New Mexico

“I would go with conservation because I like wildlife more than I like people, and we live right near where it’s all going on. All the national parks—we should be caring about that.”

Chelsie DuBois
Big Sky, Montana

“I hate picking one, but I think, for my job, Visit Big Sky because they’re basically the heart of promoting Big Sky for everyone. They’re helping in affecting all the businesses and everyone in Big Sky by promoting us. As we’re growing we need a better marketing plan and really a plan in the first place.”

Chris Bracht
Big Sky, Montana

“I would have liked to have seen Discovery Academy get all theirs because, you know, we need to be encouraging our youth to do as much as they can for their community and better their environment. You can’t do that if there’s no funding to get future graduates.”