We held two well-attended public meetings in March and April 2007. These meetings covered the reasons that Big Sky might want to consider incorporating, some estimated costs to start up a local government, the tax implications of these costs, and the process to proceed. The feedback we received was in favor of continuing the process we had started. And yes, these meetings were covered by our local press. So if you missed it, click here to see the information presented at those meetings.
The roughly $400,000 cost discussed at these meetings is an estimate of start-up expense. We called it the "cost to open the doors of a town hall." We often get asked questions like, "What services would we get?", "What would they cost? We can't answer that first question. Simply put, it's up to the citizens to decide. Our group is a volunteer committee after all. If Big Sky incorporates, the voters will decide what services they want based on their willingness to pay for them.
But as we proceed through the process of educating ourselves about the prospects and responsibilities of self-governance in Big Sky we think there will be plenty of opportunities to discuss the questions of services and costs. In fact, that sounds like a good topic for one of our monthly meetings. Watch for it.
