Absentee ballots for the general purpose tax election have been sent out, asking county residents if they would support an additional penny of sales tax to fund public safety funding and economic development.
The 1% sales tax, if approved, would be divided amongst Green River, Rock Springs and the county based on population, with at least 75% going to public safety, with up to 25% going to economic development. The election will take place Nov. 2.
According to Chris Meats, finance director for Green River, the proposed tax is projected to raise $17 million, which is based on a 10-year average for a single-penny sales tax. Meats said the fifth-penny optional sales tax, which was made permanent, was the basis for the estimate. While the estimate is based on a 10-year average, the amount collected would likely be lower as sales tax collections have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Meats said the city continues to see and operate under sales tax collections amounts similar to the 2003 and 2004 budget years, amounts much smaller than what was seen during the oil and gas boom that occurred from the mid 2000s to the early 2010s.
Between the two cities and the county, $36.7 million was budgeted for fiscal year 2021-2022 for public safety spending, which includes the county sheriff’s office, the Rock Springs and Green River police and fire departments, the combined communications center in Green River and budgeted ambulance subsidies for Sweetwater Medics and Castle Rock Ambulance Service. However, as far as ambulance subsidies and the communications center, the sales tax would collect far more than what’s needed for both, a key point in a statement opposing the tax made by the Sweetwater GOP last week.
According to the county’s budget, Sweetwater Medics was allocated $931,585 while Castle Rock Hospital District was allocated $235,000. Rick Hawkins, executive director of the Sweetwater County Combined Communications Center said the center’s total budget is $3,715,570.18. In all, those three amounts total $4.8 million -- an amount that is easily covered by the proposed tax. The amount earmarked for economic development under the $17 million estimate amounts to $4.25 million, leaving $12.75 million for public safety.
Sweetwater County Commission Chairman Randy Wendling said the tax was always presented as something to defray public safety costs and fund both the dispatch center and ambulance subsidies. A July 7 presentation to the commissioners by Ryan Rust, Green River’s public affairs and grants coordinator, backs this claim as he said the tax is seen as means to provide funding for ambulance subsidies and the joint communications center, while helping cover other public safety costs. At that meeting, he said local industries support a sales tax more than a tax district because they pay a disproportionate amount of taxes through mill levies.
Rust, while speaking with the Star Monday, said the ballot question’s language would allow the cities and the county to be flexible in what is allocated to economic development if additional public safety costs arise. Should local governments desire, they could pull from the amount earmarked for economic development. At the moment, it is unknown how the economic development portion of the tax would be allocated. The Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition has been targeted as the key organization to utilize this funding, but agreements between the cities and county commissioners identifying it as such have not been drafted.
Wendling also said the commissioners, as well as the mayors of Green River and Rock Springs, have agreed not to make the tax permanent if it is approved.
“There’s absolutely no desire for this commission to make it permanent,” he said.
Wendling said the commissioners will vote on a resolution during their Oct. 5 meeting that would announce the commissioners don’t intend to make the tax permanent should it receive voter approval.
Wendling believes the tax is needed to help cover the costs associated with public safety and allow money from the 12 mills the county receives from property taxes to be used for capital improvements, services and component agencies such as the county’s library system.
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