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Municipal leaders tell Select Water Committee storm-water fees reflect infrastructure, urge statewide framework
Summary
Mayors and municipal representatives told the Joint Select Water Committee that storm-water systems are public-safety infrastructure, described recent fee rollouts and pauses in Cheyenne and Laramie, and urged a structured statewide conversation on durable funding and governance rather than defending any single city ordinance.
Municipal leaders on the Joint Select Water Committee’s interim agenda urged lawmakers to treat storm-water infrastructure as a public-safety priority and to convene a statewide, structured conversation about durable funding and governance.
"Storm water infrastructure is public safety infrastructure," Mayor Patrick Collins of Cheyenne told the committee, explaining that Cheyenne passed a storm-water fee in December 2024 after severe flooding prompted investment needs, then froze the fee administratively and scheduled a repeal vote for March 23; the city has not collected any storm-water fee revenue. Micah Richardson, a Laramie council member, said Laramie passed a similar ordinance in December 2024, implemented fees in July 2025, paused and refunded collections in August 2025, then adopted caps in January and is pursuing repeal as well.
The Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM), represented by Ashley Harpetre, offered to collaborate with legislators on drafting legislation and to help the committee capture municipal concerns. "We are here to collaborate and help as needed," Harpetre said, and WAM president Matt Murdoch, mayor of Pinedale, asked the committee not to frame the interim work as defending any particular fee but as building a legally durable and fiscally responsible framework for capital construction and long-term maintenance.
Committee members pressed for a holistic study of storm-water management that would consider drainage, aging infrastructure, federal compliance obligations and funding models. Several members noted the possibility of wrapping the work into existing infrastructure study bills if timing allows and emphasized the need to weigh statutory versus rule-based solutions and mechanisms that preserve local input.
The committee signaled storm water as its top priority among interim topics and directed the chair and vice chair to consolidate language and present the package to Management Council. Next steps include drafting study language, soliciting municipal and agency input, and determining whether the topic should remain with this committee or be jointly handled with other committees that address municipal powers and fees.
The committee did not take formal action on any bill or impose new requirements at the meeting; members agreed to continue stakeholder engagement during the interim.
