Biennial surplus redistributed

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-During this year’s budget session Wyoming lawmakers redistributed $383 million to town and county governments for the upcoming biennium, beginning July 1. Bills intended to relieve Teton County homeowners of skyrocketing tax rates were defeated, and Wyoming has the world watching as it becomes the first state to create a framework of property rights for carbon sequestration.

“Whenever the state has a surplus … we try to share the surplus with local governments,” said state representative Keith Gingery. The state has been trying to determine the appropriate formula for redistributing its surplus, and there were six different formulas proposed for redistribution this year.

“Whatever formulas they come up with we do pretty well,” Gingery said. “This one turned out to be the best for everyone, and greatly benefited my communities.” Gingery represents communities in Teton and Fremont counties.

The county’s direct distribution money, which can be used over the next two years as the county sees fit, totaled $2.15 million. This figure is up from $1.3 million two years ago. This year Teton County also received $6.5 million dollars in Consensus Block Grants from the state, as opposed to the $1.8 million received two years ago. This money can only be used for capital projects like roads or infrastructure development, and projects must be applied for, to the state, in consensus with the town government.

Andy Schwartz, Teton County commissioner, said that even though Teton County received a lot of money this year, things are not as simple as they look. Two years ago the state eliminated the food tax, and said they would continue to “backfill” the county government’s coffers for the amount of money lost in that revenue. In Teton County, where about 50 percent of revenue comes from sales tax, the figure is significant but difficult to calculate.

The extra money came this year in the form of consensus block grants, instead of backfill for direct distribution funds.

Schwartz estimated that about $700,000 less is available this biennium for the county to use at their own discretion for maintenance and operating costs than two years ago. The surge of money for capital projects comes well received, but could complicate county operations.

“If you use [the money] to build something new, how are you going to maintain it?” Schwartz said. “I don’t want to be portrayed as saying ‘oh we didn’t get any money,’ [the state legislature] did a great job about it, but it is just going to raise issues about how we do our budgeting.”

The Town of Jackson also received $2.62 million of its own direct distribution funds, up from $1.6 million.

Two bills provided low-income Wyoming homeowners with property tax breaks, but most of these homeowners do not live in Teton County. Monte Olsen (R-Daniel) proposed legislation to amend Wyoming’s constitution so that residential property tax increases could be capped at 5 percent each year. This bill would have provided relief for Teton County homeowners, but it did not pass.

Gingery said that the bill was difficult to pass because of a division between the east and west sides of the state. “We don’t have the same values … the east side of the state just doesn’t get the problem with the west side of the state,” he said. “We keep arguing that we can’t survive here in Teton County.”

The first two weeks looked promising for the amendment, Gingery said, but the agricultural industry was worried it would be taxed by the state to make up for this lost property tax revenue. It stepped in against the bill.
“It’s really hard to fight agriculture,” Gingery said.

Another bill that passed this session made dogfighting a felony. Wyoming was the last state in the country to do so.

A framework for carbon sequestration property rights was also approved in this session. As “clean coal” technology looks to extract carbon from coal and store it permanently underground, the pore space underground must be regulated. EU ambassador to the US, John Bruton, spoke to the Wyoming legislature in February, saying that the EU hopes to share information with Wyoming as the state pioneers certain aspects of clean coal technology. This legislation will also attract businesses looking to invest in ‘clean coal’ technology.
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Biennial surplus redistributed | Planet JH News Article: County News

Reader Comments

The city and county get used to the extra money and then expect it in the future. Not just use to it, they will demand it. The problem with all governments is that they don't know when to say NO. To quote another, "The incentives that force efficiency and cost control in business are financial reward, competition, and fear of economic extinction. For all practical purposes, they are missing from government agencies". Handing out more money to Teton County and Jackson is like giving a 4 year-old child in a candy store some money and expecting it to be saved. Or that any investment will see a return.
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