From the first full week of February, here’s a rundown on items of interest for Star Valley Ranch residents:
Monday, February 5th at 1pm, the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Water Utility Board met at Town Hall. No draft minutes have been posted yet, however, you can see the agenda here.
Also on Monday, I attended the Star Valley Chamber of Commerce (SVCC) monthly luncheon at the Thayne Community Center where Lincoln County Treasurer Jerry Greenfield and Lincoln County Commissioner Kent Connelly were guest speakers. The topic of discussion—property taxes. The luncheon was billed as an opportunity to better understand how and who generates property taxes, who pays property taxes (and how much), where the tax money goes, as well as a look at how the State Statutes figure into the mix. The menu sounded good, unfortunately, the talking points from Treasurer Greenfield and Commissioner Connelly left me feeling less than satisfied. I had hoped to hear much, much more on the topic of where the tax money goes not to mention some insights on what solutions are currently being worked at both the State legislative and county levels to get after reducing the property tax burden on our Wyoming citizenry. Alas, the Treasurer and Commissioner essentially indicated the tax issue was not theirs to fix (pointing their fingers at the legislature) and going forward they saw little relief in sight. The Treasurer and Commissioner did not acknowledge local tax increases are also part of the problem.
I did a little digging after the luncheon and reviewed the Lincoln County budgets from the past four years. (You can find those documents here on the Lincoln County website.) The Treasurer and Commissioner both spoke about the impacts of inflation as well as the need to cut services if property taxes are reduced too drastically going forward. Ironically, the Lincoln County budget has grown 33% since 2020 (see the graphic below) while inflation peaked at an annual average of 8% in 2022. I understand the devil is always in the details, however, I found what I heard from the Treasurer and Commissioner during the luncheon to be very frustrating especially when it appears the county has done zero planning to prepare for a potential future property tax reduction.
Data from Lincoln County Wyoming budget documents; inflation statistics from https://www.usinflationcalculator.com. Note this fall you should be seeing an amendment to the Wyoming State Constitution on the ballot which will separate residential property into its own property class thereby enabling the legislature to make more favorable tax rate revisions for homeowners.
Additionally, there is also a 50% property tax reduction ballot initiative making the rounds in the Cowboy State. Stay tuned to see if the latter also makes it onto the ballot. In the meantime, take a look at this next graphic which shows just how much property taxes have gone up for our residents in the past few years—ouch!
Finally, and I apologize for going on so long on this topic, there was one bright spot during the luncheon and that was our local Senator Dan Dockstader who was also in attendance. The Senator offered insight into ongoing work within the legislature that aims to get after remedying our current property tax ills. You can read his SVCC luncheon summary in this Star Valley Independent article.
Tuesday, February 6th at 5pm, the TSVR Roads Advisory Board held their monthly meeting at Town Hall. No draft minutes are posted yet, however, you can see the agenda here. While I was not able to attend this meeting, it’s my understanding the board has finalized their mission statement and is working on service-level agreement recommendations for the town—I’m sure we’ll hear more about all of this soon. Thank you Roads Advisory Board for everything you’re doing!
A couple of other quick notes for the week:
The Pole Barn Poll (from the January 7th SVR News Roundup) is still open. (I’ll add a status summary next time as this post is already a little long!) Click here to access the poll and add your opinion if you haven’t already.
The TSVR Trail Crew continues to keep our local trails open for snow-shoeing. This weekend the crew worked on the Vista-Prater, Maple, and Cedar Creek Trails and reported “the snow has firmed up and seems more stable at the lower elevations after several days of freeze-thaw cycle”. Thanks Trail Crew!
[Photos courtesy of TSVR Trail Crew.]
A busy week coming up for Star Valley Ranch—here are your calendar items:
Tuesday, February 13th has the following schedule of events:
Coffee with the Mayor, 9am at Town Hall
Town Council Work Session, 10am at Town Hall [note this is a time change]
TSVR Municipal Court, 2pm, upstairs at Town Hall
Town Council Meeting, 7pm at Town Hall
Wednesday, February 14th at 5pm, the TSVR Planning and Zoning Board will meet at Town Hall.
Thursday, February 15th at 2pm, the Town Council will hold a work session at Town Hall.
Finally—this weekend was cold but filled with sunshine and lots of great cross-country ski opportunities on our beautifully groomed Ranch golf course. Here are a couple of photos from one of my outings. Get your skis or snowshoes on and enjoy the winter outdoors while it’s still here!
A wintery Cedar Creek gurgling along at Star Valley Ranch. 
What an awesome view looking toward the Cedar Creek trailhead! And, yes, I did nearly topple over while trying to take this shot!
If you’re watching the Super Bowl—Enjoy! And, as ever thank you very much for reading! Your support and feedback is always appreciated! Please invite your neighbors, family, and friends to check out Close to Home 307. And, feel free to reach out to me anytime at: close2home307@gmail.com