Wednesday, February 11, 2026 |
Photo – Penny – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Town of Medicine Bow will wait until pennies are phased out or a software option becomes available before rounding up payments.
Due to their high production cost and limited real‑world value, President Donald Trump ordered the United States Treasury to stop minting new pennies in February of 2025, shortly after taking office. As the coins fall out of circulation, they will become harder to find. Local business owners say banks have already stopped selling rolls of pennies.
As reported by Bigfoot99, Wyoming Democrat Mike Yin introduced a bill to standardize how cash transactions would work without pennies. House Bill 71 requires all entities that accept cash to round final totals up or down to the nearest nickel or dime. Until an official solution is in place, whether through Representative Yin’s legislation or another approach, Wyoming businesses and municipalities must set their own rules for rounding pennies.
Without guidance from state officials, Medicine Bow has been working on procedures for handling cash transactions without pennies.
First discussed last month, the governing body chose not to adopt an official policy until Town Attorney Cameron Smith reviewed if the town can legally apply rounding based on a bill’s ending amount.
Speaking at Monday evening’s Town Council meeting, Attorney Smith said he reviewed the legality of penny rounding and found that state law does not prohibit it.
Clerk and Treasurer Karen Heath said the town’s utility billing program, Caselle, is developing a software update that will automatically round pennies. In the meantime, Treasurer Heath said she can round all utility payments by hand if the Town Council chooses.
Councilman Lee Cook asked if the town was running out of pennies. Treasurer Heath said yes, adding that a majority of residents prefer to pay with cash.
Councilman Cook asked how often Treasurer Heath purchases pennies from the bank. Heath replied that she doesn’t buy pennies and has instead been using her own coins to give residents change. However, as pennies become harder to find, Treasurer Heath said she will no longer continue that practice.
Until Caselle introduces the software update, Treasurer Heath said the Council can choose between two rounding methods: one that always rounds totals down to the nearest nickel and another that rounds up or down based on how close the amount is to the nearest five or ten cents. Councilman Cook said he couldn’t support either option if it meant losing revenue or overcharging residents for cash payments.
Treasurer Heath said Mayor Justin George, who was absent from Monday’s meeting, indicated that all utility payments, not only cash, must be rounded to the nearest nickel.
The town treasurer said Mayor George wanted a billing method that treated all residents equally.
Mayor Pro Tem Trevor Strauch said rounding up and down will balance out over time.
Councilman Lee Cook asked if Treasurer Heath will need to manually adjust every utility bill if the town adopts a penny‑rounding policy. Heath said she already reviews each bill by hand. Wanting to avoid adding to the treasurer’s responsibilities, Councilwoman Crystal Mayfield recommended waiting for Caselle to finish updating its software before taking an official stance.
The Medicine Bow Town Council agreed to wait for a software solution before adopting an official penny‑rounding policy, and the matter was tabled until the next meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Trevor Strauch said the Council can hold a special meeting if the issue requires action before then.
