The Montana Department of Commerce (DOC) has rejected an application by the Town of Ennis to be designated as a resort community. The basis for the denial is that according to the confidential employment data used the town does not derive more than 50% of its income from tourist related activities according to the denial letter dated Sept. 12, 2025. 

“My initial reaction was that of surprise as we have received the designation in the past,” said Ennis Town Commissioner Cory Hardy who has spearheaded the effort to get resort community designation. 

In the report returned to the Town of Ennis along with the denial letter, a chart is included from the 2022 census that shows only 31 jobs in the accommodations and food service industry across the town. A quick onsite count shows the Gravel Bar and Burnt Tree Brewing employ more than 20 people year around and over 30 in the summer months.  The census report also states that there are only 427 jobs in all of Ennis. 

The report does acknowledge that the included census data is out of date and not “granular” enough to make a determination. The full set of data used by the DOC to make the determination is not included in the report and not available to review due to confidentiality concerns. 

Ennis had been designated by the DOC as a resort community in 1996, but the 2023 legislative session changed some of the requirements for the designation including defining the rule that it must “derive more than 50% of its economic well-being related to current employment from businesses catering to the recreational and personal needs of persons traveling to or through the municipality for purposes not related to their income production and excluding economic activity from health care, schools, government, and other services that primarily benefit residents.”

The report says that 75% of the businesses in Ennis are not dependent on tourist activity and that 77% of the employment wage earned in Ennis is not derived from tourism related activities. There is no appeal process to the decision listed in the report or the denial letter. Hardy is ready to pivot to a resort community designation application that includes all of Madison County District Three which spans the eastern most portion of the county and is the district that Bill Todd represents as a county commissioner. 

“Through my research for the past four years, I have come to terms with the idea of District Three being a more attractive area for resort tax,” said Hardy. 

“We are probably a year out on receiving resort tax designation for the District Three area,” he continued. “First, we have to identify the voter population which I believe will not be able to overlap with Big Sky‘s current resort area.  The Resort Tax Club is going to meet up with commissioner Todd on October 1 and discuss a process moving forward.”

Expanding the borders of the resort tax district would seem to lessen the benefit for Ennis, but Hardy feels confident that Ennis would be a primary beneficiary of the monies received. 

“The resort tax board would essentially pick and choose the areas of the highest priority (needs assessment) and that’s where the monies would get allocated to,” he explained. “Ultimately Ennis is the hub that provides services and sanctuary for the majority of tourists in District Three.”

He continues on to point out that guide revenue from the entire Madison Valley may help sway the numbers to the 50% threshold needed for the resort community designation.  Hardy foresees a four percent tax similar to Big Sky and Virginia City where three percent can be used at the discretion of the resort tax board and one percent is set aside for infrastructure development. 

More details about the District Three application will be made available as the application comes to fruition.