 - The Riverton City Council approved a contract extension agreement with the state last week that will allow Fremont County to maintain commercial air service with SkyWest Airlines through 2029 - if local matching funds are available to cover the costs.){kind=link}
(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton City Council approved a contract extension agreement with the state last week that will allow Fremont County to maintain commercial air service with SkyWest Airlines through 2029 – if local matching funds are available to cover the costs.
Previously, about half of the city’s annual matching requirement for commercial air service was covered by Fremont County’s optional sales tax for economic development, which failed renewal last fall.
The rest of the local match came out of the city’s air service reserve account, which contained about $2 million at the end of 2024, according to previous reports.
That’s enough to cover the local match for 2026, which could amount to about $1.8 million, according to a memo from city staff – but beyond that, Mayor Tim Hancock said, “we’ve got to be able to figure out some other solutions,” because “the city budget cannot support that (local match) without taxpayer buy-in.”
Councilmember Karen Johnson agreed, expressing hope that local voters might support another tax initiative to fund commercial air service and public transportation in the future “so that we can continue to grow the community.”
Otherwise, Johnson said, the city might need to take advantage of the termination clause that’s included in the commercial air service agreement with the state – because “without the community’s support for the airport, it’s going to go away.”
“It’s good that we have the option to opt out, (because) where’s the money coming from?” she asked. “We just don’t know … There are some options that are being talked about, but I don’t know that (the money) will be there after 2026.”
Councilmember Mike Bailey also encouraged local voters to support any tax initiatives that might come forward in the future to help fund commercial air service, which he called a “huge economic driver” in Fremont County.
“We need to make our case of why that’s important,” Bailey said.
Riverton’s local match represents 40 percent of the minimum revenue guarantee required to retain commercial air service through SkyWest Airlines; the state pays the remaining 60 percent.
For more information, call the City of Riverton at (307) 856-2227.