By Bella Butler COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT EDITOR
BIG
SKY – In an open forum on April 8, the Big Sky Resort Area District board held
a virtual meeting to discuss and move forward on a series of action items, many
relating to COVID-19 community impacts.
The
group heard an update from board chair Kevin Germain, who reported having sent
$500,000 of the initial $1 million committed by BSRAD to the Big Sky Relief
Fund to the Bozeman Health Big Sky Community Medical Center to cover the costs
of three ventilators as well as the construction and supplies for four
additional in-patient rooms, which are estimated to be completed May 5.
An
additional $500,000 will be distributed for social services addressing needs
born of COVID-19-related challenges. Four applicants have sought funds from
this pot, including the Big Sky Community Food Bank, the Big Sky School
District, the Discover Academy, and Morningstar Learning Center.
In
an effort to save relief fund dollars for potentially imperative asks coming
down the pike, the board approved an action giving a subcommittee authority to
reallocate unused funds from Fiscal Year 2020 to other areas of need. “We don’t
know what’s going to come,” said board Secretary Buz Davis, a member of the
reallocation subcommittee. “We might get a tidal wave of requests.”
Germain
added that among the many unknowns associated with the virus, the board can’t
yet grasp the extent of medical system needs that may arise. Board members
emphasized the importance of handling fund requests with careful deliberation
and consideration of an uncertain future.
From
the Big Sky Relief discussion, the board moved into a financial forecast,
delivered by BSRAD Executive Director Daniel Bierschwale. According to a
projection shared by Bierschwale, March resort tax collections are predicted to
come in at 40 percent of March collections from FY19, while April and May
collections are predicted to be negligible. June collections are predicted to
total 25 percent of June collections from FY19.
The
presumed reduction in collections as well as the $1 million committed to the
relief fund and the absence of a sinking fund comparable to that of FY19, which
totaled $876,000, combines for a projected shortfall of $2.8 million from the
total funds available at the time of appropriations in June 2019.
“There
are going to be some really hard decisions,” Davis said, looking ahead to
upcoming appropriations.
In the interest of providing both the board and community organizations a framework for how to adjust to these changes, a subcommittee was developed with Buz Davis and Sarah Blechta to explore how to quickly assemble the right stakeholders to engage in scenario planning. The board discussed a shift to biannual or even quarterly appropriations, a concept that will be further reviewed in scenario planning.
The
board then approved an operating budget for FY21, which had been significantly
trimmed.
“That’s
the result of us trying to do our part to make sure that we are being as
efficient and effective as possible with the use of the tax dollars in our
operation,” Bierschwale said in an interview following the meeting. “Like
everyone, we’re just responding to the COVID-19 situation and making sure that
anything that can be delayed for a future year is being delayed. We’re asking a
lot of our applicants so we want to make sure we’re putting our best foot
forward as well.”
Other
business included the board’s approval of the reallocation of funds initially
given to Big Sky Search and Rescue for the purpose of a Wilderness First
Responder course that was canceled to be used for equipment costs.
The board also approved the reallocation of funds given to the Big Sky Community Housing Trust. The funds were appropriated for use in future projects, but due to an overage of construction costs on the Meadowview workforce housing project, the trust requested a portion of the funds be used to ensure the success of the in-progress housing development.
The
upcoming 1 percent vote, which will determine if an additional 1 percent of
resort tax may be collected to fund two Big Sky County Water and Sewer District
infrastructure projects, was not discussed in depth. Ballots will be mailed
April 17 and Election Day is scheduled for May 5.
