Our View: Funding should be discussed

While some of the Sweetwater County Commissioners don’t think the county should pay for its proposed justice center with bonds when it can pay for the building with cash reserves, we believe investigating and possibly using bonds to pay for at least a portion of the building will help the county in the long run.

During a discussion Tuesday about alternate funding methods the county could utilize for the justice center, Sweetwater County Treasurer Robb Slaughter said the county may be in for a long economic downturn. Supposing this does happen, The county will have to draw on its reserves to fund the county at its current levels, that is if the commissioners decide to follow that type of philosophy. Commissioner Wally Johnson said in a previous meeting that county government should shrink as revenue shrinks, which would ultimately result in the elimination of jobs within the county’s various offices.

Admittedly, layoffs would most likely be the last thing a county commissioner would consider as a means of bringing budgets in line with revenue, a philosophy the current group of commissioners have followed for the past several years. Though, if the downturn lasts a number of years, as Slaughter’s comment does suggest, some method of cutting positions might be discussed.

Using a secondary funding method for the justice center might at least postpone some of those discussions. We’ll be the first to complain about how frequently sixth penny taxes are considered for different projects throughout the county, but the justice center could be a great contender for that sort of funding, along with that sewer treatment facility Green River needs.

As we’ve seen in the past, the county and cities shouldn’t believe they can rely on the Wyoming Legislature for additional funding.

While Gov. Matt Mead’s budget proposal would give $90 million to cities, towns and counties, that’s a drop in the bucket to what’s really needed across the state. Even in good times, the state showed reluctance to send money to the areas that needed it. Now that there’s a true rainy day approaching, the state continues to tightly guard the money generated from local oil and gas companies.

Regardless of how it gets funded, we’re increasingly convinced the county, as well as both cities, should look at ways to save their revenues for the economic downturn, regardless of if it’s a couple of years, or longer.