Jackson mayor spotlights housing, infrastructure and land-use rules in State of the Town address

Mayor Arne Jorgensen delivered a State of the Town address at Jackson Town Hall outlining housing, infrastructure and land-use priorities for the town.

Jorgensen said the town will focus on a budget strategy to sustain services, defend longstanding housing mitigation programs at the state level and continue implementing recent land-development regulation changes approved after a five-month moratorium.

The address emphasized housing and affordability work completed in 2024 and risks the town faces at the state level. Jorgensen highlighted Flat Creek Apartments, a federally financed project that opened in the fall and provides 48 units housing about 125 community members. He credited the Wyoming Community Development Authority for administering federal tax credits that keep rents below market and said the units are intended to remain affordable.

Jorgensen called out a current threat in the state legislature to the town’s 30-year housing mitigation efforts, saying an amendment attached in the House Appropriations Committee would remove local housing mitigation programs. “It would remove housing mitigation to our community,” he said, and added he planned to travel to Cheyenne to urge senators to reverse the amendment. He said roughly 1,600 restricted units have been created under the town’s mitigation programs over the last three decades.

On land use, Jorgensen recapped the moratorium council placed on large developments and said, after five months of review, the council approved ordinances updating the town’s land development regulations. He summarized specific limits adopted in those updates: the largest new commercial building can be 40,000 square feet and new hotel rooms are limited to 500 square feet. He said the town also clarified that the design guidelines are part of the land development regulations and directed planning staff to bring additional proposed updates for further public discussion.

Infrastructure and emergency response were other themes. Jorgensen praised Wyoming Department of Transportation crews for reopening Teton Pass three weeks after a landslide that temporarily severed regional travel. Locally, he described public works staff efforts to clear a clogged irrigation pipe along the south side of the Gehrman Park pathway so water could reach downstream ranches.

Jorgensen also reviewed community facilities and operations: a new public works maintenance shop built using specific-purpose excise tax funds (SPET), and an expanded Teton County rec center that he said has welcomed more than 700 visits per day since opening. He warned that capital funding through SPET does not pay for ongoing staffing and operations, and said establishing a sustainable funding plan for facility staffing will be a budget priority.

The mayor noted other operational items and community engagements, including expanded partnerships with county services and a joint review of shared-service funding splits after passage of the Justice Center ballot measure; a public forum and upcoming pathway safety work on e-bikes in partnership with Friends of Pathways; town participation in a Wind River Buffalo Initiative trip; and gratitude for town staff and first responders. He also acknowledged recent wildfires that affected the region and thanked firefighters.

Jorgensen said the town collects very little property tax—about $500,000 annually—and described that revenue as approximately 0.1% of the town’s budget. He called for a holistic budget review and a multiyear strategy as the council prepares the fiscal 2026 budget.

He closed by saying the council will prioritize a future comprehensive plan review, a parking action plan, ecosystem indicators, stormwater planning and additional land-development work informed by the council retreat he and councilmembers just completed.