JANUARY 6, 2025|
Photo – Rawlins City Hall – Bigfoot99 file photo
Incoming Rawlins city council members received a crash course on the city’s finances.
This past November, Rawlins’ voters elected Derek Elliott and Terry Patterson to the city council. Elliott will represent Ward One in place of Mayor Terry Weickum, who did not run for reelection last year. Patterson will replace Chris Weisenburg as representative for Ward Three.
On January 2nd, the sitting council held a training session for its two new members. City Manager Tom Sarvey began by explaining how the city’s finances are organized. Sarvey said the general fund contains money used for the day-to-day operation of the city, including impact assistance and the dangerous building fund. The city manager stated that the bulk of the general fund comes from state and local tax revenue.
The remainder of the general fund is made up of service charges and interest payments.
City Manager Sarvey said in 2021, Rawlins received nearly $15 million in tax revenue, with roughly $7 million coming from nearby wind turbine construction projects. The following year, 2022, sales tax revenue declined to $4 million. Sarvey said sales taxes are expected to rise again when new wind projects begin construction.
Sales and use taxes are the main source of income for Rawlins. The city is projected to receive $4.8 million in sales taxes during the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Combined with other taxes, such as property and fifth penny, the city has budgeted $10.8 million for this fiscal year.
City Manager Sarvey explained to the new council members that more than half of the city’s finances go toward emergency services and recreation.
Sarvey said the city also receives Sixth Penny Tax revenue. In 2019, residents voted to spend roughly $12 million of Sixth Penny Tax money on 10 different improvement and repair projects around the city.
Sarvey said inflation has made it impossible to complete every voter approved project.
The city has completed one Sixth Penny project, rebuilding Walnut Street from 3rd to 7th Streets. Sarvey said the next project is repairing Edinburg Street, on the city’s east side. The city manager explained that the Edinburgh Street project has not been completed already because the cost has more than tripled since 2019.
As of December 31st, Rawlins has received $5.2 million worth of Sixth Penny Tax revenue. Sarvey said the city will collect one more year’s worth of taxes before beginning the Edinburgh Street replacement project. Additional money needed to complete the project will come from impact assistance and the general fund.
Next, Sarvey discussed depreciation of the city’s assets, including the Rawlins Family Recreation Center and the VFW Baseball Fields. The city manager explained that all the assets combined lose approximately $1.5 million in value each year. Sarvey noted that, to restore everything to its original condition, the city needs to set aside nearly $22 million.
In the 2023 through 2024 budget, the council allocated $1 million to combat the depreciation of city assets. Despite this, city assets still lost $500,000 in value last fiscal year.
City Manager Sarvey moved on to discuss the water enterprise fund, explaining that state law requires enterprise funds to be separate from the general budget and generate enough money to sustain the fund on its own. Last year, a Wyoming Water Development Commission water master plan revealed that the city’s water infrastructure requires $48.5 million worth of repairs. Sarvey said the water enterprise fund is short $48 million.
Sarvey said the water enterprise fund receives approximately $3 million annually, meaning the city still must wait several years and take out multiple loans to pay for the water infrastructure improvements.
To make up the general budget’s financial shortcomings, Sarvey said he will move a portion of the city’s cash reserves into high interest investments.
Council members Elliot and Patterson will be sworn in during tomorrow night’s Rawlins city council meeting.
