(Lander, WY) – The Lander City Council signed on to an agreement this week outlining a funding distribution plan for the potential three-quarter percent sales tax Fremont County voters will consider passing in August to support commercial air service, public ground transportation, and the local ambulance system.
The council amended the agreement before approving it, however, adding language requiring annual public meeting reports from service providers that benefit from the potential tax.
“This verbiage … would just require an annual report from them to us in a public forum,” Councilmember Chad Cassady said, proposing the amendment. “(It’s) something that I’d like to add if we could.”
Councilmember Julia Stuble spoke in favor of Cassady’s idea, which she described as “impactful.”
“I think it’s an OK delay,” she said.
She was referring to the fact that the Riverton City Council, which approved the funding distribution agreement last month, will have to vote on the document again now that it has been amended.
“We don’t want to wait on this too long,” she said, noting that the agreement is intended to provide voters with “transparency” about “how the tax is going to be collected” and distributed.
Mayor Missy White agreed that the issue is “time-sensitive,” pointing out that early absentee voting starts in July.
Councilmember Josh Hahn voted against joining the funding distribution agreement, which indicates that, if the tax passes, local governments will send 54 percent of the revenues to the Fremont County Treasurer to support emergency medical services, while 31 percent would go to the City of Riverton for commercial air service and 15 percent would go to the Fremont County Association of Governments to support public ground transportation.
Councilmembers John Larsen and Dan Hahn were not present Tuesday.