SPOT Tax to appear on ballot

The county commissioners have officially approved the presence of the 1% Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax on this year’s general election ballot.

Better known as the SPOT Tax, this is far from new to the county, having been used to raise extra revenue for counties and towns since it was authorized by the legislature in 1984. In Crook County, it is an additional penny on top of the obligatory four percent state sales tax and the one percent general purpose tax.

One difference this year, however, will be the amount. At the suggestion of Pine Haven Mayor Karla Brandenburg, each town and the county would get a total of $3 million to spend on infrastructure needs – an increase from the $1.5 imposed in 2020.

This wouldn’t change the amount of the tax itself – it’s still just a penny, she said. It’s also a penny that is already in place, so it would have zero impact on the residents and visitors who pay it.

The intent of Brandenburg’s suggestion, she explained, is to ensure the tax doesn’t sunset before the next opportunity to vote it back in, which has occurred in the past and left a gap of five or six months that had a negative impact on the towns.

This is because SPOT is different to those first five pennies in that, instead of running for a certain period of time, voters are asked to approve a specific dollar amount that must be spent on a specific set of projects.

The tax will only remain in effect until this amount has been collected and, once the total has been reached, no matter how long that takes, the tax will automatically switch off.

SPOT, better known as the “sixth penny” or “one percent tax,” has a strictly defined purpose. The commissioners passed a resolution last week to place the SPOT Tax on the ballot and identify what projects each entity would use the money for.

Once again, each entity focused heavily on infrastructure needs, such as roads, sewer and streets.

The Town of Hulett would use the $3 million to purchase equipment for public works, for improvements to streets, curbs and sidewalks, for its water and sewer systems and for other infrastructure improvements and early retirement of debt incurred for previous projects.

The Town of Moorcroft would use the money for improvements to streets, sewer, water, landfill, the Moorcroft Town Center, parks and other infrastructure, and for early retirement of debt.

The Town of Pine Haven would use the money for water and sewer systems, streets and drainage and other infrastructure projects. According to County Clerk Melissa Jones, the town has also asked to add fire and EMS equipment to their list.

The City of Sundance would use the money for street improvements, sewer, water and lagoon upgrades, other infrastructure improvements and early retirement of debt.

The county would use the money for equipment for Road and Bridge and construction materials for county roads and has this time added remodeling the courthouse to extend its useful life.

The commission briefly discussed the importance of the tax to this county and how much it has helped each entity in the past.

“We’ve always passed this with some success,” said Commissioner Kelly Dennis, stating that it really helps the county and he hopes it will not see pushback from voters this time around.

“I think people are used to it enough now and they understand and they’ve seen what it has done for everybody,” said Commissioner Bob Latham.

Commissioner Fred Devish meanwhile noted that a lot of this tax is collected from visitors to the county, which means it is not paid for entirely by residents.