Let’s get this out of the way: the sixth-penny tax, officially titled the Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax, is a great way to fund needed improvements regarding infrastructure.
In 2012, voters approved a total $81.8 million in various construction projects ranging from street and water improvements to renovations at the Mission at Castle Rock Rehabilitation Center and the construction of Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County’s Medical Office Building. Needs associated with water, sewer and streets are easily paid for and completed through the tax.
Without it, many maintenance and improvement projects would have been postponed. New street surfaces and improved water services wouldn’t have happened and residents would have had to contend with the consequences of postponing those improvements. Likewise, MHSC’s building, admittedly a new construction project, was an infrastructure improvement which aimed to improve healthcare in the county.
Yet, one thing we would caution is using the tax to fulfill a wish list of new amenities in Sweetwater County. While the 2012 taxation is still in effect, whispers and quiet discussion about the next tax ballot are already taking place.
While nothing is concrete, we’ve heard a few possibilities we’re not willing to support at this time. One possible project we’ve heard as a recipient for funding is the U.P. Depot building. While the depot represents a lot of potential in regards to economic development for Green River, renovation of the depot shouldn’t be funded with sixth-penny money.
In Rock Springs, the main street organization’s successes have come from a combination Wyoming Business Council grants, city funding and private buy in.
The Broadway Theater and Bunning Hall were completed through a combination of funding methods and the depot should be completed the same way.
A major project like the depot, if completed through similar means, would lend Green River Main Street an increased amount of credibility.
Another project that shouldn’t get tax support is the hospital’s proposed ambulatory surgery center. Thankfully the hospital’s leadership agrees. They’ve admitted they feel they should pay for it using revenues as the hospital has already received sixth-penny funding twice for its projects. While the Sweetwater County Commissioners have expressed a desire to see the center funded through the sixth-penny tax, we hope they change their minds and allow the hospital to pursue revenue bonds for that project.
The sixth-penny tax is a great tool for infrastructure maintenance and improvement, and should be used for those purposes. Using it to fund items not associated with that use will only weaken public support of the tax, lessening the probability of it passing when it’s needed most.
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