FAQs

The proposed ballot measure would authorize a county-wide ¾-cent sales tax dedicated to specific essential services.

If approved, revenue would be restricted to:

• Ground ambulance services

• Commercial air service

• Public ground transportation

The specific language of the ¾ cent ballot initiative is:

Shall the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Fremont, State of Wyoming, be authorized to impose an excise tax of three-quarter percent (3/4%) upon retail sales of tangible personal property, admissions and services made within the county as defined by Wyoming state statutes, the purpose of which is for economic development. The net proceeds of the tax shall be used for economic development only to support emergency medical services (ground ambulance), commercial air service, and public ground transportation. If passed, the tax shall become effective on January 1, 2027, shall be in effect for a period of four (4) years, and as provided by W.S. § 39-15-203 (a)(v)(C) the same proposition shall be submitted at the general election in 2030.

Fremont County is a large rural county where emergency response, public transportation access, and regional connectivity are essential to daily life. The proposed ¾ cent sales tax is intended to help support reliable services that residents, businesses, workers, seniors, and visitors depend on every day.

Using a sales tax instead of a property tax increase helps distribute the responsibility more broadly across residents, visitors, and travelers who use services throughout Fremont County. For many rural communities, this provides support for important countywide services without relying solely on local property tax increases.

The same purchased items you pay sales taxes on today would be taxed an additional ¾ cent per dollar if the initiative is approved by voters. For reference, a ¾ cent sales tax equals 75 cents on a $100 purchase.

To give you an idea of impact on purchases:

• a $198 55-inch flat screen TV at Walmart would cost only an additional $1.49 in sales tax

• a $35 throw blanket at Murdoch's would cost only an additional $0.26 in sales tax

• a $139 12-foot gate at Tractor Supply would cost only an additional $1.04 in sales tax

Groceries and medical prescriptions are not included as taxable items. Additionally, goods and supplies needed for agricultural production (farming and ranching) are not taxed.

Reliable ambulance service is critical in a county with long distances, rural roads, outdoor recreation, agricultural industries, and growing emergency response demands. Emergency response times can vary significantly across Fremont County, especially in rural areas.

Funding support helps stabilize and strengthen:

• ambulance availability

• staffing and response capacity

• equipment and fleet needs

• countywide emergency readiness

When emergencies happen, response time matters.

Transportation services support seniors, working families, rural residents, and individuals who may not always have access to reliable transportation. This helps those who need it when it comes to:

• healthcare appointments

• work opportunities

• childcare and school

• groceries and essential services

• community activities

Funding may support multiple qualifying public transportation providers throughout Fremont County, not just a single transportation system.

Commercial air service helps keep Fremont County connected to healthcare, business, tourism, workforce recruitment, education, and family travel, and to economic markets around the globe.

Reliable air access supports:

• healthcare recruitment and retention

• business and professional travel

• job creation and retention

• visitor spending and tourism

• economic competitiveness

• access to opportunities outside the county

All three of these services have direct impact on maintaining a healthy economy in Fremont County, in addition to providing a quality of life that makes the area attractive to the workforce and growing new business. But more importantly, true to the Wyoming spirit, the combination speaks to neighbors helping neighbors. One household may have a greater need for ambulance service while another needs public transportation while the employer down the block needs air service. Because this is a sales tax shared by all, a portion of one person’s contribution covers what matters most to them, and a bit of what matters most to their neighbor, while the neighbor does the same for that person.

Funding generated through the proposed ¾ cent sales tax would be distributed to Fremont County and participating municipalities based on population formulas established through the Wyoming sales tax structure. Communities with larger populations receive a larger share of funding, while countywide funding also supports services that benefit residents across Fremont County.

The municipalities agree on what portion of the funds goes to each service through a Memorandum of Agreement. Currently the MOA designates 54% for ambulance services, 31% for air service and 15% for public transportation. Over the next four years, those shares could change based on changes that occur in the economy, but only if all of the municipalities are in agreement. The funds can only be used in these three service areas and can not be allocated to any other kind of endeavor.

Counties and municipalities may work with designated citizen committees, partner organizations, service providers, and local leadership to help review needs and make recommendations related to eligible services and projects.

The goal is to make sure funding decisions remain locally informed while exclusively supporting essential countywide services such as EMS, public transportation, and commercial air service.

Funds generated through the Fremont County essential services sales tax would be dedicated specifically to ambulance, air service, and ground transportation services as outlined in the ballot measure. The use of funds would be subject to public oversight, budgeting processes, and regular financial reporting requirements, as set up in the Memorandum of Agreement.

Revenue would be distributed only to approved service providers and used for essential operations, equipment, staffing, maintenance, and long-term sustainability efforts tied directly to these critical community services. As with other public funding mechanisms, expenditures would remain subject to audits, transparency requirements, and oversight by local governing entities to help ensure funds are used responsibly and as intended.

In addition, community members would continue to have access to public meetings, budget information, and reporting processes that provide visibility into how funds are allocated and utilized over time.

Yes.

Many transportation and service-related grants require local matching funds in order to qualify for state and federal funding opportunities.

For example, the funding needed to ensure air service is primarily provided by the state at 60% with a 40% local match. Public transportation receives a number of different kinds of grant funding through the federal government, some covering 80% of certain services but requiring a 20% local match. 

Without local investment, communities can lose access to this outside funding that helps strengthen and maintain essential services.

Communities across Fremont County would benefit from strengthened emergency response, transportation access, and global connectivity. 

This includes:

• Riverton

• Lander

• Dubois

• Shoshoni

• Hudson

• Pavillion

• rural communities throughout the county

• the Wind River Indian Reservation

Rural communities often face the greatest challenges related to:

• emergency response times

• transportation access

• healthcare connectivity

• workforce access

Reliable countywide services help support residents across large geographic areas where access and distance matter every day.

The proposed sales tax structure also helps spread the cost more broadly instead of relying only on local property taxes within smaller communities.

The initiative supports essential community services that affect real people and their daily lives. They also help strengthen workforce access, healthcare connectivity, tourism, local business activity, and long-term community stability.

Strong emergency response, transportation access, and global connectivity all help communities remain safe, accessible, and prepared for the future, making them viable and stable for new and existing businesses and opportunities.

Previous countywide sales tax collections demonstrate that a dedicated sales tax can generate millions of dollars annually for the county and municipalities. Actual revenue will vary depending on economic activity and collections throughout Fremont County.

99% of the sales tax revenue generated through the initiative remains within Fremont County and participating communities to support local services and community needs, while the state keeps 1% to cover administration. The goal is to keep local dollars working locally to strengthen essential services across the county.

Community involvement is key to keeping local voices part of the conversation about Fremont County’s future.

Residents can:

• participate in the community survey

• attend local conversations and presentations

• share information with friends and neighbors

• follow updates from Forward Fremont County

• share social media posts

• help encourage community awareness and participation

WRTA takes pride in keeping fares low, often partnering with other community organizations to reduce and even sometimes temporarily eliminate fares, so that the cost of service is not a barrier to people in Fremont County.

The bulk of funding for public transportation comes from federal resources. Local match funds are required for many grants that WRTA uses to operate. Because of the structure of those grants, fares collected cannot be used as local match funds. 

Overall, fares account for approximately 3% of the revenue used by WRTA and aren’t a significant funding source.

A fair amount of the cost of county-provided ambulance service is paid by the individual being transported, either personally or through their insurance providers. However not all expenses are covered. Additionally, about 30% of the calls ambulances go out on may result in no transport to a hospital. For example, if a player gets hurt in a football game an ambulance may be called, but the parents instead drive the student to the hospital. It was required to call the ambulance, but no transport takes place so nobody can be billed. Similarly when police officers or firefighters believe they will need medical transport in an emergent and developing situation, an ambulance is called, but may not, in the end, transport. These expenses are covered locally, by the county who derives funding through property taxes.

In the days of a booming economy and lower air safety regulations, Fremont County travelers were able to cover the full cost of flying. Prior to that, the county received federal funding to cover the shortfall between ticket sales and cost of the service. With the boom, the county gave up that federal funding as unnecessary, so now it is unavailable to us. As the boom declined, starting in about 2013, air service deteriorated badly until the provider at the time simply left the market, as they did in Worland earlier. Seeing that writing on the wall, citizens in Fremont County began working to bring in alternative services in order to keep the county economically healthy. However serving a small market, with limited numbers of passengers, is expensive and airlines were not attracted to Wyoming other than Casper, Cody and Jackson. Even so, this service was critical to maintaining our economies, especially during this transitional period for the minerals industry. Working with the state, the other communities in Wyoming with commercial air service, Sheridan, Gillette, Rock Springs and Riverton, developed a capacity purchase agreement whereby the state negotiated service from SkyWest/United that covers costs not covered by ticket sales. State legislators recently determined to continue matching 60% of this cost with 40% expected to come from local communities. The prices of tickets are monitored by each community and the state regularly in hopes of moving the average ticket prices high enough to minimize these costs, but the ultimate solutions requires capacity (passenger volume) as well as ticket pricing. That’s why growing enplanements (passengers getting on local flights), as reported regularly in the news, is so important.