Broadwater County - A County Divided
 | Author:
Victor Sample
Vic Sample: MT43 News Treasurer |
Broadwater County - A County Divided
In the early 1960s, the area around the I90 intersection in Broadwater County looked much different than it does today. I90 was under construction but had not reached Three Forks. The road to Whitehall/Butte was a 2 lane road that went through LaHood Canyon.
There was no big Town Pump gas station; there was no Wheat Montana. In fact, there were no other businesses in sight. There were no houses in that area. There may have been some Broadwater County residents near Old Town but very few residents lived in far south Broadwater County. The few school-aged children in far south Broadwater County went to school in Three Forks.
The Broadwater County Commissioners working with Gallatin County and Three Forks divided Broadwater County Special Districts in the early 1960s. The “J24” line was created that ran across southern Broadwater County.
Special Districts such as School Districts, Fire Districts and the Hospital District that were NORTH of the line were Broadwater County Districts. South of the “J24” line the special districts were in Three Forks. School District mill levies in the far south end of the county were paid to the Three Forks school district; mill levies for the Rural Fire District went to the Three Forks Rural Fire District.
The “J24” line crosses Hwy 287 around mile marker 101; north of mile marker 101 special districts are Broadwater County – south of the line they are Three Forks/Gallatin County.
For many years this functioned quite well – until the Wheatland Area exploded into residential sub-divisions. The sudden growth in the Wheatland Area has put a lot of stress on the Three Forks services such as the school district, the library, the senior center, etc. while simultaneously benefitting the Three Forks economy. The people in Wheatland shop in Three Forks; they eat at the Three Forks restaurants; they go to bars in Three Forks all benefitting the local businesses.
Many people in Broadwater County and in the Three Forks area don’t even know about the “J24” line. People I have talked to in Three Forks think that the children coming into the Three Forks schools from Broadwater County don’t realize that they are actually in the Three Forks school district and that they do pay taxes into the Three Forks School District. Many people resent Broadwater County residents for sending their kids to school because they don’t know about the “J24” line.
People I have spoken to say they won’t vote for any school mill levies or bonds because it’s Broadwater County that is causing the school issues. They think Broadwater County should be paying Three Forks for those students.
Even some residents of Wheatland do not understand they are not in the Broadwater County school district (the Townsend School District). When the School District was getting the bond issue on the ballot for the new grade school, there were posts from the Wheatland area complaining they didn’t even get to vote on the issue. They didn’t know they were in the Three Forks School District.
The Three Forks School District is not the only service being affected by the growth of the Wheatland Area. The Three Forks Library Board have come to the Broadwater County Commissioners asking for assistance with their library – since a big percentage of their library usage is by residents of Wheatland. Unlike the School District, the Three Forks Library Board does NOT get mill levies from Wheatland residents. According to a Three Forks Library Board member, the Broadwater County Commissioners suggested they implement a fee for Broadwater County residents using the Three Forks Library. She told me they would never charge children to use a public library!
Many Wheatland area Senior Citizens use the Three Forks Senior Center. Again, Broadwater County is putting extra pressure on Three Forks/Gallatin County which is not covered by any Wheatland tax levies.
There are rumors (only rumors) that the Wheatland area residents are considering creating a new school district and building their own grade school because Three Forks is struggling to keep up with the growth.
The far south end of Broadwater County is continuing to grow. Nichole Brown (Broadwater County Community Development and Planning Director) recently stated that she is seeing no slowdown in the Wheatland area. The Wheatland area will continue to stress the Three Forks area.
A particular bone of contention is the Targeted Economic Development District (TEDD) that was recently created at the far south end of Broadwater County.
Next week we will discuss how the TEDD will benefit both Broadwater County and Three Forks in the future but will put even more stress on Three Forks for the next 15 years.
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