 - Members of the Riverton City Council reviewed their priorities for community service contracts this week as they considered how to distribute a proposed $240,000 allocation among 14 organizations that had requested a combined total of $517,268 this year.){kind=link}
(Riverton, WY) – Members of the Riverton City Council reviewed their priorities for community service contracts this week as they considered how to distribute a proposed $240,000 allocation among 14 organizations that had requested a combined total of $517,268 this year.
“This is the absolute worst meeting of the year,” Councilmember Mike Bailey said during the Tuesday work session, explaining that it’s “very challenging” to figure out how to allocate a limited amount of money to “all these organizations (that) do good work.”
Mayor Tim Hancock agreed that the process is “very awkward,” especially since each program requesting funding has “something amazing to offer our community.”
“I hope you’ll just be patient with us and realize that this (process) is not necessarily meant to be a reflection of your mission or you,” Hancock said, addressing the community organizations that requested funding this year. “It’s meant to be a reflection (of) where we can afford to put money.”
No funding
During this week’s discussion, the council decided not to distribute any funding to:
- Central Wyoming CATS
- Cup of Cold Water Ministries
- Foundations for Nations
- Riverton Help Center
- Volunteers of America Northern Rockies
- Wind River Prosperity
Councilmember Karen Johnson pointed out that most of those organizations do things like “feed people within our community – and I don’t know that relying on the city to help with that is always the best option.”
Instead, she suggested those groups combine their resources and work together to look for other funding options – because “I don’t think the city is in a position to help financially.”
Bailey agreed that “a lot of these food pantries and organizations that are feeding people need to get together so that they can combine resources and maybe be a little more effective.”
When discussing Central Wyoming CATS, Bailey said he would rather see the city spend its community service funding on “more essential services” that support “a greater group of the community.”
“All these organizations do good work,” he reiterated. “But I think we have to just focus on trying to give to the ones that provide the greatest amount of service to the most people.”
Johnson agreed, as did Councilmember Kyle Larson, who echoed Bailey’s comments about the “honorable work” all of the civic organizations do.
“I feel for every one of these,” Larson said. “There’s not a bad one on the list. … Unfortunately, $240,000 does not divide up very well. So I’m inclined (to) want the biggest bang for my buck.”
Councilmember Eric Carr also pointed out that Central Wyoming CATS can raise its membership rates in order to bring in additional money, while other organizations requesting funding this year “don’t have the ability to ‘charge at the door.’”.
Funded
The organizations that were identified for funding this week include:
- R Recreation: $107,000
- Wind River Transportation Authority: $45,000
- Juvenile Justice Systems of Fremont County: $30,000
- Eagle’s Hope Transitions: $20,000
- PAWS for Life Animal League: $20,000
- Riverton Chamber of Commerce: $10,000
- Riverton Volunteer Fire Department $5,000
- Injury Prevention Resources $3,000
Of those groups, the Riverton Volunteer Fire Department was the only one to receive 100 percent of their funding request, in what Hancock called “one of the easiest” decisions of the night.
R Recreation had requested $135,000 this year, but Hancock noted that their program director Mary Axthelm “always says, ‘We’ll work with whatever you give us.’”
“(We’re) really testing out Ms. Axthelm’s ability to work within what she said she can do,” Hancock said. “This is hitting R Rec pretty hard in terms of what they’ve traditionally operated – and (we’re) their main funding source.”
WRTA had requested $86,708, and Juvenile Justice Services had requested $35,000 – the same amount Lander regularly contributes to that agency, according to Juvenile Justice Services Executive Director Cassie Murray.
“The City of Lander … said that the work that we do is integral to their community,” Murray said this week, adding, “And a majority of the citations do not come from the City of Lander – a majority of the citations come from the City of Riverton. I think that’s important (to) note.”
She also pointed out that Fremont County “has requested that our budget be slashed by at least 10 percent” this year.
“If that happens, the state of probation services for the City of Riverton, without funding, is in danger,” Murray said. “So that may be something that the City of Riverton needs to look at, as far as how you would fund probation services if that was no longer available through the county.”
After hearing from Murray, Bailey said “this is one of those cases where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“The money that we pour into these young folks (getting) put back on the right path and getting themselves organized … pays back multiple times over,” he said. “Of all the things that we’re funding, I think (Juvenile Justice Services) probably has one of the biggest impacts to the community overall.”
Eagle’s Hope had requested $53,000 this year, while PAWS had requested $75,000, and the Chamber of Commerce had requested $44,060 – though, like Axthelm, Chamber Director Cindy Olson-Roden said “we will take and work with … what you give us.”
Carr did “question” the distribution for the Chamber briefly, pointing out that, like Central Wyoming CATS, the Chamber collects membership fees, which could be raised to cover costs, but Johnson said she was “comfortable” with the $10,000 allocation because the Chamber promotes local businesses, and “I would like to see them at least get compensated for the advertisements they do (for) the City of Riverton.”
Johnson also commended Olson-Rosen for working “incredibly hard to reinvigorate the Chamber” this year.
“I think that she’s done an exceptional job, and I think that we ought to honor that,” Johnson said.
Riverton’s community service contract amounts will be finalized as part of the city’s budget process, so the council has until June 10 to make any adjustments to the totals they discussed this week.
For more information, call the City of Riverton at (307) 856-2227.