‘We need to focus on the core services’: Riverton city staff proposing ‘lean’ budget for 2025-2026

(Riverton, WY) – The City of Riverton’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 amounts to just over $36.7 million – and almost one-third of that total will be covered by grants, City Administrator Kyle Butterfield said this month. 

“That’s $11 million that will support the services that we’re going to provide our community,” Butterfield said during a Riverton City Council meeting last week, complimenting city staff for their diligence in applying for grant funds.

The grant funding “helps the situation that we’re in from a fiscal standpoint,” Butterfield said, noting that “we’re in a position where we need to focus on the core services that the City of Riverton and its residents need and deserve to receive.”

To that end, he said staff “are proposing lean cost centers and lean organizations so that we are fiscally responsible and still keep the priority of providing services to the community.”

For example, Butterfield said, proposed capital expenditures across all funds for next year total $18.7 million – a 14 percent decrease from the current fiscal year.

Some of those reductions in capital expenditures are reflected in the city’s general fund budget, which is proposed at $11.2 million for next year – an 18.3 percent decrease from the current fiscal year, he said.

The “majority” of that proposed decrease in the general fund resulted from reduced capital expenditures, which are set at $2.8 million for next year, Butterfield said.

When city staff started the budget process this year, that number was “just over $3.5 million,” he noted.

“As we’ve gone through the exercise of presenting you a balanced budget, we have had to make very hard decisions about the critical – and maybe the less critical – proposals,” Butterfield said, adding, “It’s getting hard as staff to do that, because almost everything is critical.”

Grants support $1.9 million of the proposed $2.8 million in capital expenditures for the general fund next year, Butterfield said. 

Revenues

The city’s general fund is also expected to receive less revenue from several sources next year, Butterfield said – including property taxes.

“We’re showing (a) 20 percent decrease in the property tax that would be collected – or about $95,000,” Butterfield said. “That’s a conservative estimate, but we have been working with County Assessor Berg to ensure that we appropriately accounted for what was recently passed by the legislature.”

Property tax relief measures are expected to reduce the amount of weed and pest control funding the city receives next year by about $10,500 as well, Butterfield said. 

The city also expects to see a “significant decrease” in the amount of grant funding it receives from Fremont County School District 25 to support the School Resource Officer program next year, Butterfield said. 

“That’s a 49 percent reduction, or $167,000,” he said, explaining that the decrease in funding resulted from a “change” in the city’s agreement with the school district and a reduction in the number of law enforcement officers involved in the SRO program, from three down to two.

Other revenue sources are expected to increase next year, Butterfield noted, with sales tax income projected to go up by $150,000, and projections for pari-mutuel betting revenue increasing 200 percent from the current budget, which anticipated $60,000 in pari-mutuel betting revenues.

“I also want to point out that the police department (is) seeing a 46 percent increase in the grants that they seek to support just their operations,” Butterfield said. “So that’s $77,000 (that) will go towards supporting our law enforcement and victim witness efforts.”

The amount of supplemental funding the city receives from the state is expected to go up next year too, Butterfield said – rising from $1.9 million to $2.1 million.

“We rely heavily (in) this proposed budget on supplemental funding – and that works,” Butterfield said. “But we need to pay close attention if the legislature reduces the amount of direct distribution that it proposes in future fiscal years.”

For context, Butterfield pointed out that the “primary operating and service-providing” portions of the general fund are expected to cost about $8.9 million next year, and the city’s largest revenue source – sales tax – is only projected to bring in $2.6 million. 

“We truly have to look for every revenue opportunity possible to ensure that we cover (the cost) for the City of Riverton to provide services,” Butterfield said. 

‘Impressed and grateful’

The city’s overall proposed budget of $36.7 million represents a “slight decrease” compared to fiscal year 2025, when the budget was set at $36.9 million, Butterfield said. 

The proposed water fund budget for next year is $4.6 million – a decrease of 7.8 percent over the current fiscal year, Butterfield said, and the proposed wastewater fund budget for next year is $6.3 million – a 6 percent decrease from the current fiscal year.

Capital expenditures in the water fund are proposed at $1.8 million, reflecting $1 million in cuts that were made as part of the budget process, Butterfield noted, and the capital budget for the water fund is proposed at $3.9 million, reflecting $200,000 in cuts that were made as part of the budget process. 

“And this was after (they) already trimmed things down,” Butterfield said. “So you can see the effort that was put towards presenting these improvements.”

Members of the Riverton City Council complimented Butterfield and his team for proposing the needed cuts.

“Prior to sitting in this seat, I was really critical of the city’s budget and how it was operated,” Councilmember Karen Johnson said. “(But now) I have nothing but respect for what you and the staff have done. … You have worked incredibly hard, and you deserve a pat on the back – you truly do. You guys are absolutely amazing, and I’m proud to be sitting here working alongside you.”

Councilmember Rebecca Pierson-Lewis said she was “impressed and grateful” that city staff were able to “decrease that amount of money” from the budget while also proposing cost-of-living adjustments and merit increases for municipal employees – especially “when inflation is what it is.”  

“I applaud you for (making) those tough decisions,” Councilmember Mike Bailey agreed. 

The council is scheduled to consider the proposed budget for adoption on June 10.

For more information, call the City of Riverton at (307) 856-2227.