WHITEFISH — The city of Whitefish plans to address the housing crisis in this upcoming Tuesday, Nov. 7 election asking voters to re-allocate where the funds go from the city's 3% resort tax.
It proposes that 10% of the 3% resort tax be designated specifically for community housing.
According to Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith, the Haskill Basin Conservation Easement bond will be paid off by January 31, 2025, opening up more funding to be utilized in other areas of the City such as housing.
"It would be programs that are created such as a downpayment assistance program, workforce, Rental Assistance Program, potentially, or other programs that might come up to the city council will have full control of deciding where those funds are allocated into what type of programs, but also there's the development side where the city could partner with developers such as housing whitefish, to actually build affordable deed-restricted housing units," said Dana Smith, Whitefish City Manager.
If passed by voters it would go into effect on February 1st, 2025. Officials say over 20 years, this is estimated to generate around $27 million.
You can visit the City of Whitefish’swebsite for more information on this ballot issue.
