(Lander, WY) – Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon spoke to a crowd at the Inn at Lander last Tuesday during a public discussion about the upcoming budget session, an event sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Local leaders, including Fremont County Assessor Tara Berg, Lander Mayor Missy White, and former city council member and Maven Optics co-owner Case Maestas, also addressed attendees, each offering perspectives on how state and local budget decisions could affect Fremont County communities.
Gordon opened by framing the state’s financial planning as part of a long Wyoming tradition. “We keep planning ahead just like generations before us,” he said, adding that the state’s budget priorities are shaped by a unique sense of tight-knit community. “We know each other, we care about each other,” he said. “We’re always trying to help out neighbors, and that’s what we kept in mind trying to craft this budget.”
He outlined Wyoming’s three primary revenue streams, mineral development, tourism, and investments, and emphasized the constitutional requirement for a balanced budget. Gordon said about 61% of state funds pass through to communities, largely as federal dollars distributed by the legislature, and that budget decisions are guided by what people need most. “We really want to focus on things that people can’t do for themselves,” he said, noting efforts to support rural healthcare and create opportunities for young families.
Property taxes are expected to be a major issue in the coming session, Gordon said, while also acknowledging controversial funding decisions, including a $40 million cut to the University of Wyoming tied to concerns about how the institution is teaching.
Berg focused her remarks on clarifying how property taxes work at the local level. She emphasized that local property taxes do not fund the state budget and instead stay within communities, with a large portion supporting local school districts. She encouraged residents to review their tax bills to see exactly where their money goes and to stay involved in local decision-making.
“When the legislature tries to make blanket exemptions, it doesn’t work for everyone in Wyoming,” Berg said, noting that conditions and needs in counties vary greatly throughout the state.
White spoke about the strain local governments face as infrastructure needs grow while tax revenues remain low. She said Lander is seeing “an all-time low for paying taxes and an all-time high for need for infrastructure updates,” explaining that the city’s enterprise fund supports water and sewer systems while the general fund covers required services like public safety.
She warned that cutting property taxes has ripple effects locally. A $15,000 reduction to the fire department budget, she said, would be significant, and reduced revenues could limit opportunities at Central Wyoming College, including expansion of technical education programs the university seeks to grow. White pointed to the scale of infrastructure costs, saying the Lincoln Street reconstruction alone represents a project that, if replicated citywide, could total hundreds of millions of dollars, far beyond current funding capacity. To illustrate the gap, she said that if City Councilman John Larsen’s block had to fund a similar street reconstruction on its own at current tax rates, it would take roughly 250 years to save enough to pay for the work.
Maestas spoke more broadly about the tone of modern politics, urging people to find common ground. “We’re losing quickly the ability for Democrats and Republicans to sit down and work together to get things done,” he said. “If you put your phone down and talk to your neighbor, you probably have more in common than you think.”
During a public question-and-answer session, residents asked Gordon about a range of topics, including election security, political civility, and property taxes. When asked about Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s handling of voter registration data, Gordon said Gray is an elected official accountable to voters and that the issue is something the public should be aware of.
Responding to a question about civility in current politics, Gordon stressed the importance of keeping government decisions as local as possible, saying concerns over property tax policy are tied to that principle.
In a smaller discussion afterward with journalists, Gordon addressed additional topics, including recent changes involving the Wyoming Business Council on the Wind River Reservation, federal involvement in elections, and support for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives investigations. On reports that President Donald Trump has suggested nationalizing elections, Gordon said, “Constitutionally that’s a big problem for me… The constitution is important to me and I swore to uphold it.”
He also emphasized the need for better coordination with federal agencies on MMIR cases. “We need them (federal agencies) to understand that we can do a better job if we work together,” he said.
Asked about tensions between the University of Wyoming and the legislature, Gordon called for a reset in tone on both sides. “It’s important that the university listens to the legislature and to the people of Wyoming… I think there’s a little bit of, ‘let’s tune this down for both of us,’” he said, adding that he’s concerned about the possibility of the state shifting toward a full-time legislature, something he said wasn’t envisioned in Wyoming’s constitution.
He also spoke about opportunities to work more closely with tribes on cultural and economic initiatives. “You have two incredible traditions in these tribes with wonderful stories and great opportunities to talk about the West with different perspectives,” Gordon said. “They should be driven by the tribes and we should be able to assist them with that.”
Lawmakers are gathered in Cheyenne for the start of the budget session today, February 9, where they will begin working toward answers to many of these questions, among others.