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Towns and residents urge vote on 5th penny; others urge citizen petition, wider outreach
Summary
Public comment at the Sublette County commission meeting split between town leaders urging ballot placement for a 1% excise tax to fund rising infrastructure costs tied to the Blue Spruce project and residents urging a petition-driven approach and caution over regressive impacts.
Municipal leaders and residents used the public-comment period to press the commission on whether to place the 1% general-purpose excise tax on the ballot. Pinedale's mayor told commissioners the towns had already debated the measure and were asking the county to place it on the May ballot so local governments could begin receiving impact funds sooner. "We have agreed to put it on the ballot," the mayor said, adding that the town's buying power had fallen substantially since 2015.
Other speakers stressed different priorities: some asked that any new tax be earmarked for specific county needs (housing, justice center, life-flight) rather than be left as a general-purpose levy; others asked that proponents gather the elector petition signatures (about 248) to place the question on a future ballot and argued a November vote would reach more voters. Several residents noted trade-offs between estimated additional revenues and the potential added cost to low-income households.
