Fremont County commissioners approve placing 3/4% sales-and-use tax question on primary ballot

Fremont County commissioners voted 3-2 on March 3 to place a three-quarter (3/4%) sales-and-use tax question on the August 2026 primary ballot to fund ground ambulance services, commercial air service and public ground transportation.

The motion to approve Resolution 2026-09 passed with Commissioners Michael Jones, Ron Fabrizius and Larry Allen voting in favor; Commissioners Jennifer Wilson and Clarence Thomas voted against. Mick Pryor, chairman of the FCAG committee on funding key services, asked the board to place the measure on the ballot to address funding shortfalls for emergency and public transportation services.

Why it matters: county officials said the tax would provide a revenue stream shared by residents and visitors and could stabilize funding for ambulance and air services that counties currently subsidize. Pryor told commissioners that state statute requires the ballot measure’s title to read “economic development,” and that not specifying exact allocations on the ballot would allow flexibility later through intergovernmental agreements.

Commissioner Jennifer Wilson opposed the resolution, saying it did not create a targeted, standalone tax for individual services and did not relieve what she described as an ongoing burden on taxpayers. Commissioner Clarence Thomas argued for exploring a municipal user-fee model based on service utilization.

The resolution’s approval directs county staff to place the question on the August primary ballot; commissioners did not adopt a final spending memorandum of understanding at the meeting. The county will return to administrative steps required to finalize ballot language and coordinate with election officials before the measure appears on the ballot.