Though Gardiner is a quiet community most of the year, in summer, it hosts nearly 1 million park visitors. The Gardiner Resort Area District and elected board of directors is the entity that collects, supports, and distributes through grants the resort tax imposed upon the purchasers of luxury goods in Gardiner during the months the tax is in effect--currently June 1 through September 30. Visitors
and residents pay 4% of the retail value of eligible goods bought during the tax season. While 5% of what a business collects each month is kept by that business as reimbursement for administering the tax, the remaining tax monies collected support property tax relief as well as infrastructure and community projects through grants to local entities and organizations. In this way, the nearly one million visitors to the small unincorporated town of Gardiner help support the community and assist with the expenses of infrastructure and emergency services serving such large numbers of people each year. They may not be paying property taxes here, yet are using the streets, sidewalks, water/sewer system, and relying on local (largely volunteer!) emergency response, so the resort tax provides a mechanism for visitors to help Gardiner pay for these community services.
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https://www.gardinerresorttax.com/
The town of Gardiner, Montana, is an unincorporated town of roughly 975 year-round residents at the original entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Most of the year, Gardiner is a quiet town with a strong western heritage, a thriving community, and tremendous wildlife-watching opportunities. In the summer, Gardiner hosts nearly one million park visitors.
The Gardiner Resort Area and a 3% resort tax were approved by qualified electors on April 8, 2014 and became effective on June 1, 2014. The Gardiner Resort Area District was approved by the qualified electors on May 5, 2015 and members of the Board of Directors were elected by the qualified electors on November 3, 2015. The tax is collected from June 1 to September 30. Funds are used for property tax relief, community services, cultural grants, community infrastructure, and visitor services. For each year until 2034, the tax will be split into 5% for property tax relief, 5% to rebate fees that that appear on the property tax bill (equal amounts to each tax payer), 5% to a Community Services and Cultural grant account, 5% to fund the operational expenses of the resort tax, 15% to a Visitor Center capital grant account which will revert to the general infrastructure account listed above once the visitor center is fully funded, 10% to a Visitor Center operations and maintenance account, 5% reimbursement of administrative fee to establishments, and 50% to an infrastructure and community development grant account.
An additional 1% was approved by qualified electors on December 8th, 2020 and will become effective on all reservations for June 1 – Sep 30 taken on and after January 1st, 2021. For non-lodging taxable items and services, the 4% new rate of tax applies as of June 1, 2021. This tax will be applied until the infrastructure project is complete or until 2030, whichever comes first.
Gardiner Resort Tax is to be collected on all applicable sales in accordance with the lawful ordinance.https://www.gardinerresorttax.com/_files/ugd/128e3d_61ad7f3be37641c3ac48873a36851354.pdf
https://www.gardinerresorttax.com/_files/ugd/128e3d_8f96b4dbf00648b8b7396a95d9ecd749.pdf
