May 1, 2024 |
Photo – Cover of the 2019 Special Purpose Tax document – Courtesy City of Rawlins
The Rawlins City Council said that 6th Penny Tax projects aren’t getting done because of COVID-related inflation.
In 2019, Carbon County voters authorized the creation of a 6th Penny Special Purpose Tax. The measure added an extra 1% to the county sales tax to be used for specific capital improvement projects around the county. In Rawlins, the 6th Penny Tax was earmarked for 10 projects, including rebuilding Airport Road and Walnut, Edinburg, and Washington Streets as well as making improvements to sidewalk access along Harshman Street. Money from the tax was also set aside to build a new water pipeline and storage facility at the Rawlins cemetery.
During the April 16th Rawlins city council meeting, Councilman Chris Weisenburg said residents have complained that 6th Penny projects are not being completed. Councilman Weisenburg said the funds have not been misused. The councilman said the prior administration opted not to bond every 6th Penny project at once. Because of the delay, Weisenburg said COVID caused the price of construction materials to skyrocket.
Bonding ensures a construction project will be completed according to the terms of the contract. After the 6th Penny Special Purpose Tax was approved, municipalities didn’t receive all the money at once, causing some projects to be given higher priority than others. When a town issues bonds, it incurs interest payments over time, meaning bonding of lower priority projects was pushed back until the municipality collected more of the 6th Penny money.
The City of Rawlins asked for $12.1 million to complete the 10 voter-approved 6th Penny projects. So far, the city has only completed one: reconstructing a section of Walnut Street from 3rd to 7th Street, including water and sanitary sewer improvements. The Walnut Street project was finished in 2021 and cost a total of $1.855 million.
Two other 6th Penny projects are also in the works. The city is currently performing a study on Edinburgh Street to determine the cost to rebuild the road from Dunphail to Murray Street, including replacing underground utilities and improving the storm sewers.
After the study is completed, the city can determine if enough 6th Penny Tax money has been collected to begin construction. Documents provided by the city indicate that the current estimate for the entire Edinburgh Street project is over $5 million.
The city is also looking at constructing a raw water line from the Rochelle Ranch Golf Course to the city cemetery. Using untreated water at the cemetery will save the city approximately $370,000 a year. The project turned out to not to be as simple as city officials originally expected. The city stated that the project is expected to cost $4 million, double the original estimate.
As of March 29th, the current balance of the 6th Penny Fund sits at around $4.4 million. According to the city, it is likely that not all ten projects will be funded through the originally requested $12.1 million, because inflation costs are outpacing tax revenue.
As cost estimates are completed, the city council will decide which of the remaining nine 6th Penny Tax projects will be funded and which ones will need to wait.
