Thank you for continuing to collect the resort tax on taxable items and services. As we enter the fourth and final month of this year’s resort tax collection season, it’s a wonderful time to celebrate the many projects and organizations that last summer’s resort tax helped fund. These groups and agencies serve the Gardiner Resort Area and directly benefit our community.
By collecting a 4% resort tax, local businesses in the resort area brought in $1.3 million from visitors and residents during the summer of 2024. Each business keeps 5% of what they collect to reimburse themselves for administering and remitting the tax. A small portion covers legal and managerial services, accounting fees, annual audits, and postage. The remainder is invested in projects that support the Gardiner community and help offset the impacts the visitors who come to our small town each year.
Resort tax funds go toward property tax relief (look for two areas of relief and rebate on your bill!), major water and sewer infrastructure upgrades, and supporting Chamber Visitor Center operations and maintenance. In fact, 55% of collected taxes are available for community infrastructure, development, services, and cultural grants. Each year, the Tax Board reviews applications from local agencies and non-profits to decide how funds will be distributed.
Highlights from last year’s awards include:
- Electric Peak Arts Council: $1.9K for Shakespeare in the Parks and $5K for the Youth Initiative, bringing artists into the school and providing free student admission to EPAC community events.
- Gardiner Chamber of Commerce: $19K to renovate public bathrooms for visitors; $5.4K for trash removal from community visitor bins.
- Gateway Hose Company (volunteer fire & emergency services): $78.9K for equipment upgrades and new vehicles to better serve the community in emergencies.
- Gardiner School: $157.5K for track and field renovations.
- Greater Gardiner Community Council: $375K for the construction and renovation of the historic Eagles Hall/Gardiner Community Center—one of the town’s few public gathering spaces—and $15K toward operating costs to keep it available for community use.
- North Yellowstone Education Foundation: $20K for Connect! Grant Matching Funds that teachers can use for projects and supplies, plus $15K to support a grant writer for Gardiner School.
- Gardiner Water/Sewer District: $100K for treatment plant blower room upgrades. (These grants help keep water rates lower by ensuring the full cost of upgrades doesn’t fall directly on customers.)
For a full breakdown of how tax funds are allocated, plus photos of past community grant projects, visit the GRAD website.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to the non-profits applying for funding, to the organizations doing the work that keeps Gardiner thriving, and to every business in the resort district for collecting and remitting this tax. Together, residents, visitors, and local businesses are building a safe, beautiful, and vibrant Gardiner. There truly is no place like it! 🌿✨
