Three propositions for general election ballot

With the primary complete, voters will now be asked to turn attention to their next set of choices. This year’s general election ballot will contain two local propositions for the community to decide on and one constitutional amendment.

SPOT Tax

The first proposition relates to the Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax, better known as SPOT.

The money raised through this 1% tax goes directly to the four municipalities and county and is used for infrastructure needs that are often difficult to fund elsewhere.

SPOT is the “sixth penny” tax and is different to those first five pennies. Instead of being set up to run 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. Once the total has been reached, no matter how long that takes, the tax will automatically switch off.

SPOT has been utilized to provide 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.

A vote for the tax will not increase the amount that citizens are paying for items within the county because SPOT has been in place for a number of years and is currently running.

This time, the proposition is to collect a total of $15 million to be divided equally between the entities. The tax can also only be spent on the items that each entity has listed on the ballot.

Hulett intends to spend its $3 million on purchase of equipment for public works; improvements to streets, curbs and sidewalks; water and sewer system improvements; and other infrastructure improvements, including design and engineering.

Moorcroft has listed improvements to streets, sewer, water and other infrastructure, including design and engineering; maintenance, repairs, and improvements to the Moorcroft Town Center and parks; and for the early retirement of debt incurred for prior infrastructure projects.

Pine Haven’s proposals include water and sewer system improvements, street and drainage improvements, other infrastructure projects, including design and engineering, and equipment for EMS and the fire department.

Sundance has requested the funding for street improvement, sewer, water and lagoon upgrades, including design and engineering, and other infrastructure improvements, and for early retirement of debt.

Crook County says it would use the $3 million to purchase Road & Bridge equipment and construction materials to rebuild county roads and to remodel the courthouse to extend its useful life.

Senior Services

The second ballot proposition will ask voters to decide whether Crook County Senior Citizen Service District may continue to impose one mill levy.

The district was formed with the permission of voters in 2018 after the entities that provided assistance to seniors across the county expressed a desire to consolidate.

At that time, representatives of those entities said that senior services as a whole were struggling with declining grants and increasing numbers of people needing assistance.

The money raised through the mill levy is used by the board of trustees to fund projects and operations with an eye to helping seniors stay in their homes longer. For example, the district offers meals and travel assistance.

Constitutional Amendment

Alongside the rest of Wyoming, voters will be asked to decide whether an amendment should be made to the state’s constitution. This amendment was referred to the ballot by a supermajority vote of the Wyoming Legislature earlier this year.

The amendment would create a new class of property for property tax purposes.

“Residential real property” would become its own class of property, while “Owner-occupied primary residences” would become a subclass underneath it.

Theoretically, this would mean that property falling into these classes could be taxed at a different rate to the other, existing categories.

At this time, there are three categories of property in Wyoming: mineral productions and mine products; industrial property; and all other real and personal property.