Scott Clem, Campbell County Commissioner

10/22/2026

Campbell County approved a one-year access agreement Wednesday letting BWXT conduct ground, water and wildlife studies at Pronghorn Industrial Park for a…

10/20/2026

GILLETTE, Wyo. — The Belle Ayr and Eagle Butte coal mines have received a $25 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support a change in ownership and help cover ongoing costs. Eagle Specialty Materials LLC received the Business and Industry Loan Guarantee for the two mi...

10/20/2026

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Campbell County could gain more than 100 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment if Alberta, Canada-based Nucleon Fuel Ltd. successfully raises funds to build a uranium processing facility at Fort Union Industrial Park. The company says it plans to build the facilit...

10/18/2026

With a bit of community support, the local chapter of the Salvation Army may soon move forward in its plans to expand its services in Gillette.

10/17/2026

10/17/2026

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 #𝟐: 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝟏% 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐱

Someone recently asked me some sincere questions regarding the County's reserves, property taxes, and the optional 1% sales tax. I appreciated the question and the opportunity to respond. This post is the second part dealing with the optional 1% sales tax. The first part/post can be found on my page. Here's a summation of what was asked:

𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 $10 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆, 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒙 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒕? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 1%, 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔. 𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 1% 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒙 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏?

In addition to property tax dollars, the County also gets a portion of sales tax dollars. 𝙊𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 4% 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚, 69% 𝙞𝙨 𝙠𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 31% 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮. 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 1.2 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 4 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, and that is split between Gillette, Wright, and the County according to population. Which means of that pie of 1.2 cents for every dollar spent, the County's share is about 30%. Gillette gets the majority and Wright gets a small slice. Whereas counties rely more on property taxes for their main source of revenue, municipalities rely on sales and use taxes.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 1% 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙠𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, as opposed to a big portion being kept by the state. It is dispersed by population as well. 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 $8-9 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 1% 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨. Of that, only about $1.4 million goes to social services (YES House, Council of Community Services, GARF, etc.). The Senior Center gets an additional $462,000. A lot of it goes towards infrastructure. We also use a sizeable portion for the landfill.

The County tries to budget and spend all the optional 1% dollars that come in, dispersing those dollars according to the community survey that shows how people want these funds to be spent. 𝙒𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 1% 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙍𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 1% 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮.

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 2.2 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩: 1.2% 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭 + 1% 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭. 𝘾𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 50% 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚 1% 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘/𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙬. The city of Gillette does operate utilities, but to my knowledge they don't use the optional 1% dollars to subsidize utility rates. Rather, they operate an enterprise fund (a separate fund just for the utility where ratepayers are charged according to the actual operational costs of the utility). 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯. The County, Gillette, and Wright try to allocate the optional 1% according to the community survey, and subsidizing ratepayers on electric utilities is not a priority that I'm aware of. I am not a spokesman of the city of Gillette, however, and specific questions about their utilities and optional 1% allocations should be directed toward them.

As I said, we use 1% dollars at the landfill. We do assess tipping fees and charges at the landfill, but those fees don't cover the total costs of operations. There is a case to be made that we are subsidizing landfill costs with the optional 1%, at least to some extent. Without it, we would likely need to charge more at the landfill. Periodic rate increases occur anyway from time to time, but the 1% helps to keep those rates lower. It may not be something you normally think about, but the 1% helps to lessen the impact on our wallets in ways like this.

How else does the optional 1% benefit us? The Senior Center is 100% paid for by the optional 1% from both Gillette and the County. Many non-profits are as well. The city of Gillette, to my knowledge, also pays 100% of their share of the fire department operations with optional 1% dollars. The County uses its portion of the state sales dollars to fund the fire department.

𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 50 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨. We have some of the best roads/infrastructure in the state, and the optional 1% sales tax is a huge part of the reason why. Sometimes you don't know what you have until its gone. Hopefully we won't have to experience that. For me, the optional 1% sales tax is easy to support because the benefits are so profound. You can see more of how the County allocates the optional 1% dollars in the attached photos. The data is from this current fiscal year, 2026/27.

10/17/2026

Someone recently asked me some sincere questions regarding the County's reserves, property taxes, and the optional 1% sales tax. I appreciated the question and the opportunity to respond. I'm going to split this post up into two. The first part will deal with property taxes, and the second part will deal with the optional 1% sales tax. Here's a summation of what was asked:

𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 $10 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆, 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒙 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒕? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 1%, 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔. 𝑯𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 1% 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒙 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏?

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 #𝟏: 𝐎𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬

The Spaeth Ranch was purchased a couple of months before I was appointed to the board. I was critical of that decision early on. The money for the purchase was taken from the capital replacement reserve—which is money that has been saved over many years for new capital construction and major maintenance. The one nice thing about real estate is that it often provides an even greater return than other investments. Our reserves are currently invested in low-risk instruments: treasuries, bonds, etc. The purpose is to inflation-proof our savings, and maybe even make a little extra for the taxpayers. The Spaeth Ranch is currently for sale, and I anticipate that the county will sell it for more than the original purchase price a couple of years ago, but that remains to be seen. The money from any sale will go right back into the Capital Replacement Reserve.

𝘼 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨. Every year the County presents a balanced budget and then seeks to spend less than what it takes in, unlike the federal government. Those small surpluses are kept in reserves.

Reserves play a couple of key functions. 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙞𝙜-𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨, 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙨, 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨. For instance, we have to address the future of the Rockpile Museum, our local repository of our history, culture, and heritage. Not only is the condition of the building a big concern, there are also parking, storage, and space needs that must be addressed. This isn't new. There were plans to build a new museum in 2016, but the last coal bust indefinitely postponed that project. We've put band-aids on the existing building to limp it along, but something must be done.

Building a new museum at Camplex (near the big equipment displays) is the current plan of action. I think it's the most cost-effective option as well, but it will still cost tens of millions of dollars. We're developing plans right now, with a keen eye on controlling costs. We don't need a Taj Mahal, but we do need something that fits the needs of our community. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙚𝙩𝙘. The goal is to steward what we have and use what we have so that we don't have to ask taxpayers for additional money later on. We can deplete our reserves, but it makes it more likely to ask for more taxes in the future.

𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮, 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙢-𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮. We save in the good times to weather the bad times. It's not a matter of if, but WHEN the next bust occurs. Putting a little money in reserves every year (when practicable) requires a kind of fiscal discipline to spend less than what we take in. The needs are always greater than the resources available, so County department heads and Commissioners must prioritize needs and what is really important. Some needs are really important, but they get pushed off into future years because the resources are limited. It's all a balancing act.

The County government primarily relies on property taxes to fund its operations. We can assess up to 12 mills. We currently assess 10.45 mills. Only Campbell and Teton County do not assess the full 12 mills. There are 4 classes of property that are taxed: minerals, industrial, agricultural, and residential/all other (which includes commercial property). Unlike Teton County, in which 84% of their property taxes come from the residential class, Campbell's revenue comes primarily from the minerals class (79% 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙨, 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 6% 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡). 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮'𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨.

Should the ballot proposition go through, giving a property tax exemption of 50% on the residence of owner-occupied homeowners, it will affect each county differently. In Campbell, we'll feel it, but we'll adjust more easily. In Teton County and Sheridan County, it will have a more significant impact because they rely more on the property taxes of the residential class. Every place will be different. If Campbell County, on the other hand, experiences a bust in the minerals industry, well then we are going to need to make some very serious adjustments—and hopefully we have our reserves to help soften the shock.

10/17/2026

The Wyoming Taxpayers Association has been advocating on behalf of taxpayers since the 1930's. It's notable that they oppose Prop 1, which would create a 50% exemption for only homeowners regarding property tax, excluding all the other property tax classes. Some things aren't right for Wyoming, especially when you consider all the different legislative actions in the last 2 years to bring tax relief to those who need it most.

10/14/2026

𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢: 𝙒𝙮𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 (50% 𝙚𝙭𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙚𝙨). 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮: When it comes to mineral ad valorem taxes (𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴), that is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 generally equalized among the counties, cities, or political subdivisions. It's why of all the property taxes collected in Campbell County, 79% come from the minerals class. The city of Gillette or the town of Wright, however, does not benefit from these same mineral property taxes because the mines are outside their political subdivision boundaries. Sheridan County, Crook County, or any other county for that matter, also don't benefit from mineral ad valorem taxes produced in Campbell County for their local governments. It's why in the case of Sheridan County, 64% of all their property taxes comes from the residential class, as compared to 6% for Campbell.

The only place where that is different is with public education, which is the result of a series of State Supreme Court rulings (namely, the Washakie and Campbell cases). With public education, Campbell County, along with Teton County, are often classified as "𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲" counties. 𝙄𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙚𝙨 (𝙞𝙣 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨) 𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙉𝙀𝙀𝘿𝙀𝘿, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 "𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽" 𝙒𝙮𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 "𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺."

The irony is this ballot initiative not only reduces the amount of property tax dollars for each school district, it also creates a real dilemma, as Teton County has often been a "𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲" county (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘙𝘌𝘚𝘐𝘋𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘈𝘓 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭). 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝, the funds won't actually be there to recapture, because 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙚𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙮, 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙚𝙩 "𝙩𝙖𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛."

But here's where it gets rich. The State Supreme Court cases 𝗥𝗘𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗥𝗘 the state to pay for the 𝗖𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. There is no scenario where the state can pay 𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦 than the actual 𝗖𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗦. So as revenues for public education go down (72% 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯), and the costs of education remain the same or increase, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙄𝙎 𝙍𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙬, 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢.

*𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒: 𝑎 𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒'𝑠 $35 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑑 "𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒," 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝐶𝐴𝑁𝑁𝑂𝑇 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 $1.8 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 (𝐿𝑆𝑅𝐴).

That stands in contrast with the local governments and political subdivisions of Wyoming, in which 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙍𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙨. It's why when the legislature passed the 25% property tax exemption, 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨, but local governments and political subdivisions were 𝗻𝗼𝘁. 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙍𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 $1.8 𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙 (𝙇𝙎𝙍𝘼) 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤 "𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡" 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝘆𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁. Our state constitution envisions local governments standing on their own with their own dedicated sources of revenue (𝙚.𝙜. 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙭𝙚𝙨), apart from the state legislature budgeting from our state's treasury to make local governments whole. Why? The reason is simple: to maintain decentralization of power; i.e. Local control. 𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙, 𝙩𝙮𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙂𝙤𝙫'𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚. 𝘾𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚.

𝙀𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 50% 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚. Meanwhile, some local governments and political subdivisions around the state, like fire districts, will left figuring out which services to cut and which employees to lay off.

*𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒: 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠 (𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑆𝑅𝐴) 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑥 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 2017-18. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝐼𝐹, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑑.

10/12/2026

I just got word that this data center forum is taking place at the Cam-Plex next week. It's being hosted by the Wyoming Outdoor Council. I don't know if they are for, against, or neutral regarding data centers. Whatever their position, it's always good to attend informational meetings to keep yourself informed.