(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton City Council approved modified agreements for two local businesses receiving economic development tax funds during its meeting on July 16, 2024.
Child Development Services of Fremont County (CDS) and Java Java, a coffee shop, requested changes to their original funding agreements with the city’s Evolve, Diversify and Grow our Economy (EDGE) program.
CDS initially applied for funding to provide staffing for a child care center, retrofit a bus, and add a sensory room, which would have created four new jobs. However, the application was only partially approved for the bus retrofit and sensory room, without funding for the child care center.
The organization requested to change the agreement language from employing two new full-time equivalent employees to retaining two full-time equivalent employees and increasing one additional employee’s schedule by five hours per week upon completion of the retrofit and sensory room.
Java Java’s original application stated they would create 10 new jobs. The business requested to modify the agreement language from employing 10 new full-time equivalent employees to four full-time equivalent employees within 12 months of entering into the agreement.
Council members expressed concerns about the changes, particularly regarding job creation and retention.
City Administrative Services Director Mia Harris clarified that two part-time employees working 20 hours per week would equal one full-time equivalent position.
Councilman Mike Bailey voiced his reservations about the modifications. “I sort of have a little bit of a problem with this,” he said. “They advertised that they were going to bring in 10 and now they’re saying four. And CDS was saying they were going to bring in two new and now they’re going to retain two. That’s not the same as generating more employment.”
Mayor Tim Hancock explained that the partial funding approval for CDS led to the need for adjustments. “When they come to us with a proposal and they’re saying, if you give us all of this money, we’ll provide this. Well, what we’ve tended to do is say, we’re not going to give you this much, we’ll give you this much. So then we have to go back and say, okay, well, if you’re going to fund it partly, I can’t do all the jobs I said I would.”
Harris noted that Java Java still intends to hire 11 to 15 employees, but wanted to ensure they could meet the terms of the agreement. She also mentioned that CDS would have eliminated positions without the funding.
The council discussed the importance of holding funding recipients accountable while also recognizing the need for flexibility as businesses adapt their plans.
Councilman Dean Peranteaux emphasized the progress made in recent years. “We’ve made great strides in the last couple of years in trying to subvert that and try to have a better thumb on it because initially it was kind of free money. And I think in the last couple of years we’ve actually reigned that in and created and actually made stipulations of what they’re going to do.”
City Administrator Kyle Butterfield explained that the funding agreements allow for clawbacks if funds are not used consistently with the terms. However, he noted that the council has discretion in interpreting and enforcing the agreements.
After deliberation, the council voted to approve both modified agreements. The CDS agreement passed unanimously, while the Java Java agreement passed with one dissenting vote.
The approvals highlight the ongoing challenges of balancing economic development goals with accountability in the use of public funds. As the EDGE program evolves, council members expressed a commitment to improving transparency and ensuring that funded projects deliver on their promised benefits to the Riverton community.
This article was created using an AI tool customized specifically for County 10 to support reporting in our local community. County 10 uses this tool to assist reporters by recording and/or transcribing meetings and interviews, summarizing them, and by suggesting the building blocks of potential articles. A County 10 reporter is always involved in fact-checking and creating the final article for our site. County 10 does not use AI to independently create any news content on county10.com.