Riverton council allocates remaining optional half‑percent proceeds: $10,000 to Mercy House, remainder to airport

The Riverton City Council voted Jan. 21 to provide $10,000 to Mercy House to support opening an emergency shelter and to direct the remaining discretionary balances from the optional half‑percent excise tax for economic development to the Central Wyoming Regional Airport.

City Administrator Patrick Butterfield briefed the council on the tax history and legal limits, noting the original ballot defined economic development as projects that “retain or increase employment or result in a net gain of money into the community.” He said the city retains governing authority over allocation decisions and reminded the council that 30% of the tax proceeds are reserved for transportation (20% toward commercial air service and 10% toward ground transportation) under the intergovernmental MOU facilitated by the Fremont County Association of Governments.

The decision came after lengthy public and council discussion about competing needs: keeping commercial air service solvent, funding the Wind River Transportation Authority’s operations, possible support for county ambulance service and an immediate request from Mercy House to begin operating an emergency shelter. Mercy House representatives, including board chair Grace Andrus and Rowena Bland, told the council the organization expects to open an initial shelter unit quickly if seed funding is available and described immediate needs for security equipment, materials and basic setup. Bland said the group does not plan to use the city funds for wages and described a plan to hire staff and pursue additional grants and donations.

Butterfield’s budget projection estimated roughly $320,000 of unobligated discretionary (70%) half‑percent funds expected to be remitted to the city through May 2025. He also reported that, under current projections and existing commitments, funds dedicated to commercial air service would be exhausted by mid‑2026 without additional revenue or new voter approval for a future sales tax initiative. Council members repeatedly cited that funding gap as a reason to prioritize the airport to preserve scheduled air service.

Council debate ranged across a series of proposals and amendments. Several members argued for matching requirements if grants were given to operations such as WRTA; others pressed that immediate shelter capacity for people in the cold months was a pressing public‑safety need. After motions, withdrawals and an unsuccessful amendment, the council approved a motion to provide Mercy House $10,000 immediately, with the remaining unobligated discretionary half‑percent balances remitted to the airport. The motion passed with the majority of members voting aye and one recorded abstention (the transcript does not name the abstaining member).

Discussion points included requests for staff to prepare a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or contract language specifying permitted uses for any city funds, and for the city and county to continue coordinated outreach to other local governments and stakeholders to pursue shared solutions for air service, WRTA operations and county ambulance funding.

Why it matters: The optional half‑percent tax was approved by voters in 2020 to support economic development and transportation; voters rejected renewal in 2024. Those remittances still arriving through May 2025 must be allocated in ways that meet the ballot’s definition. The council’s action preserves immediate seed funding for a local shelter while prioritizing continued funding for commercial air service, which officials say underpins countywide economic activity and would exhaust available reserves without further investment.

The council asked staff to draft the spending agreement for the Mercy House funds and to provide updated cash‑flow projections for the airport fund and for other transportation requests at upcoming meetings.