Rebecca Norton, a member of the Whitefish City Council, wrote an op-ed on Jan. 19 in the Daily Inter Lake expressing displeasure with Impact Fee Legislation, SB 142, and its sponsor, Sen Keith Regier, calling it ill-advised. I am a co-author of this legislation and have first-hand knowledge of what is in this bill and how it was created.
She claims that Whitefish was not contacted during the drafting of this bill. At the suggestion of Regier, I wrote to the League of Cities and Towns seeking input last fall and received no response. However, at the Senate hearing on Jan. 16, the League did speak along with a group of opposition cities organized by the League, including Whitefish. Communications work both ways and criticizing Regier for this is hypocritical.
Although Norton did recognize the main purpose of this bill was granting the Department of Commerce oversight authority over impact fees, she lacked understanding of virtually all of the other components of this bill. I can vouch with certainty that Norton either did not read this bill or comprehend it. Instead of criticizing Sen. Regier, perhaps Norton should, as an elected official, look at Whitefish. She knows why SB 142 was written and should understand that the problems this bill will fix are close to home.
The legislation was written for the most part to provide protections for residents and builders in Montana. And in no other city do the residents need this protection more than in Whitefish. I testified before...
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