Opinion
The Big Sky Way: A solid base
Understanding the Big Sky Community Capital Improvement Plan
By Daniel Bierschwale EBS COLUMNIST
In Big Sky, the term ‘base’ is an important part of our everyday vernacular. We use it skiing, when dressing, meeting up, and building our community. A Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is a foundation, or a base, that will guide community investments in the upcoming years.
In the September Big Sky Resort Area District (BSRAD) board meeting, TischlerBise presented the draft Big Sky CIP to the public. As reported in EBS, this plan outlined investment funds with staggering dollar amounts. What do these forecasts mean and how do they impact the typical resident of Big Sky?
Capital improvements and a CIP
Capital improvements refer to major, nonrecurring physical expenditures such as land acquisition, buildings, public infrastructure and equipment upgrades. The voter-approved “1% for Infrastructure” invested in the new Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility is a great example of a recent capital improvement project.
Used by local governments to strategically plan for community growth, a CIP outlines proposed capital improvement projects, estimated costs, and expected funding over a multi-year period. A CIP takes a comprehensive look at the needs of a community and saves money by improving the cost effectiveness of how local governments expend their limited resources and dollars. It anticipates and prepares, rather than reacts.
Planners use tools like the U.S. Census and the G.I.S. database to establish a baseline for factors like population, housing and employment. Then they look at trends and projections to estimate future growth, then determine what additional infrastructure would be required to meet those needs.
The plan for Big Sky
The new Big Sky Community CIP covers a five-year and 10-year timeframe, concentrating on near-term infrastructure needs. Its principal goal is to assess capital needs for service providers in Big Sky and provide guidance for funding, serving as the foundation for future decisions concerning the need for public services and facilities.
TischlerBise is the planning consultant that also prepared the previous CIP commissioned by the Gallatin Canyon/Big Sky Planning and Zoning District in 2011. That CIP unfortunately left out the Madison County portion of Big Sky. The 2023 CIP incorporates all areas in the BSRAD boundary—which spans both Gallatin and Madison counties—to provide a more comprehensive look at the needs of our community.
How much?
The draft plan identifies $777 million in infrastructure needs in the Big Sky community. It quantifies the demand for arts and education, economic development, health and safety, housing, public works, recreation and conservation needs through a detailed analysis of current and projected demand in addition to interviews with service providers. The CIP represents a significant investment; moving forward will require cross-sector collaboration. This document initiates the planning process—it is a needs assessment.
The Big Sky CIP is a community plan, outlining funding strategies and existing public funding sources including property taxes, resort tax, state and federal grants, and philanthropy. It also identifies potential funding mechanisms, such as targeted increment financing (TIF), utility fees, and debt service. To put it into perspective, resort tax collection in fiscal year 2023 totaled over $20 million, a large portion of which is used to pay for property tax offset and nonprofit grants. Even with all the funding sources of Big Sky to make our community livable, we will need significant public/private partnership to make this happen.
Where do we go from here?
Once the Big Sky CIP is accepted by BSRAD and both county commissions, the next phase will begin. This is a phase that involves budgeting and prioritization, the evaluation of funding options and a schedule for implementing projects. With the completion of the project schedule, the CIP would typically be adopted by resolution or ordinance after a public hearing—held locally by BSRAD. The formal adoption of the CIP permits the beginning of implementing the scheduled projects.
The capital improvements planning process takes substantial time and resources to complete. It will be a living document that will need to be updated regularly. In the end, we will have a strong base and path forward to investing in our community that will benefit future generations of Big Sky.
Daniel Bierschwale is the Executive Director of the Big Sky Resort Area District (BSRAD). As a dedicated public servant, he is committed to increasing civic engagement and voter education. Many ballot issues impact government services and public funding including subsequent property tax impacts. BSRAD is the local government agency that administers Resort Tax, which offsets property taxes while also funding numerous community-wide nonprofit programs.
