FEBRUARY 6, 2025|
Photo – Seal of Carbon County – Bigfoot99 file photo
With Wyoming lawmakers entertaining property tax cuts in the state legislature, Carbon County officials are concerned about how they will fund road maintenance if their revenues are reduced.
During Tuesday’s Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Road and Bridge Superintendent Kandis Fritz discussed where she was going to find $594,320 to replace the bridge over Difficulty Creek on County Road 270. Fritz explained that the county’s impact assistant fund will be roughly $29,000 short of covering the cost of the job.
In October of 2023, Fritz discovered that the bridge over Difficulty Creek needed to be completely replaced. At that time, Fritz quoted $350,000 for a new bridge. However, inflation has significantly increased the cost.
Back at Tuesday’s meeting, Road and Bridge Superintendent Fritz said the county road budget contains $2.9 million and suggested paying the entire $594,000 from that. Fritz said the impact assistance fund should be reserved for purchasing and applying the anti-dust compound, Magnesium Chloride.
Commission Vice Chairwoman Gwynn Bartlett asked how much of the road budget is already earmarked for other projects. Fritz responded that she has agreed to pay over $500,000 for work on County Road 401, also known as Sage Creek Road. The road and bridge supervisor added that she will try to keep $1 million of her budget in reserve.
That leaves approximately $1.9 million in the road and bridge budget.
Last month, the board agreed to hire Casper-based WLC Engineering and Surveying to design a process to repair deteriorating sections of Sage Creek Road for $67,100. At the time, Fritz said the actual construction work is likely to be much higher, perhaps exceeding $400,000.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Fritz said she must ensure she has enough money budgeted for those construction services as well as repairs to Seminoe Road. Any additional money will be spent on Magnesium Chloride application, which Fritz said may not occur this year due to budget concerns.
Commissioner John Johnson said Senate File 69, the homeowner property tax exemption, has county officials concerned. Senate File 69 provides a 50% property tax cut on all residential homes up to a value of $1 million. Because the measure does not offer a way for counties to recuperate the lost tax revenue, Commissioner Johnson said he is uncertain what the county’s future budget will look like.
Senate File 69 was passed by the Wyoming State Senate yesterday and is waiting for consideration by the House Appropriations Committee. If enacted into law, the measure is set to expire before the 2027 tax year.
During this week’s county commissioners meeting, Road and Bridge Superintendent Fritz said residents often tell her that they want Magnesium Chloride applied to their roads.
County officials are understandably concerned about the state legislature’s push for property tax reduction. Roughly 18% of the collected property tax is used to fund county services. While Senate File 69 does not contain a provision to backfill the county’s loss of property tax revenue, the measure sets aside $125 million from the state’s general budget to reimburse school districts.
