Laramie council hears options for Albany County specific-purpose excise tax; staff outlines $84M–$97M scenarios

At a work session on Oct. 14 at the Municipal Operations Center, the Laramie City Council received an overview of the Albany County specific purpose excise tax, commonly called SPET, and how different term-and-forecast assumptions would change the total amount presented to voters.

"This is absolutely not a city tax. This is an Albany County tax, and it benefits the county, the city, and the town of Rock River," said Jennifer Wade, the city's finance director, summarizing a central point of the presentation. Wade and Assistant City Manager Todd Feazer told councilors the bodies will negotiate a maximum tax amount and a list of projects to appear on a future ballot.

Wade reviewed how sales and use taxes are structured in Albany County: a 6% combined rate that she broke into 4% state sales tax, 1% local general-purpose tax (the "fifth cent") and 1% specific-purpose option that must be voter approved and tied to named projects. She said the city uses conservative forecasting and suggested a 10-year planning horizon is historically common in Albany County.

Staff presented four methodologies for setting a maximum tax amount on a 10-year term. Using a conservative, median-collections approach with an inflation adjustment, staff said a 10-year tax would yield about $85,900,000. Using a…