If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. 

The Cody Conservation District seems to be taking that to heart. On Tuesday, district chair Russ Dwyer told county commissioners that the district wants to once again ask voters for an up-to-one mill property tax. The wrinkle this time around? Dwyer wants to hold it on an off election year where it would be the only question on the ballot.

Commissioners didn’t make a decision on Tuesday, wanting to gather more information.

The county estimates that holding a special mail ballot election for the more than 10,000 voters in the district would cost around $23,000 while an in-person special election would be pricier. County officials are researching whether state statute allows them to bill the costs to the conservation district; if that’s allowed, Dwyer said the district would be willing to pay the cost of the election.

The last time the Cody Conservation District requested one mill was in 2022, when less than 30% of voters supported the additional tax. The measure was on the August primary ballot after commissioners  declined a request by Dwyer to hold a special election earlier in the year. The ballot question actually did better in the 2020 primary, when nearly 37% of district voters supported the measure. 

Dwyer said it was important to try again now partly because he’s concerned about the district’s grant funding from the National Association of Conservation Districts being cut because it includes language related to DEI. Dwyer said all he did was send in sections from the Wyoming Constitution which require all people to be treated equally. However, given how the grant was put out, he’s still concerned that the funding could be at risk as the Trump administration moves to cut funding related to DEI efforts. Without that funding, Dwyer said they’d have to lay off an employee, as the grant is a big funding source. 

He said the other reason for asking for a special election is to get it away from being on a ballot with other tax questions.

“I would really like to be on a ballot where it’s that,” Dwyer said, adding, “Cody is Cody, and you put four tax items on and every one is going to get voted down. I’d like to see an up or down on just this to see if the constituency is going to support us.” 

The Cody and Powell-Clarks Fork Conservation districts are the only two in the state without either consistent funding from the county government or a mill levy. The Meeteetse Conservation District, for instance, receives one mill. 

While they aren’t allowed to use state funding to advertise for the ballot measure, Dwyer said the district can give out educational information on what the district does. 

Park County First Deputy Clerk Hans Odde said the elections department is able to handle a special election election, but favors doing an all mail ballot as it would require far fewer election judges and be cheaper than opening a few polling places. 

“I think your turnout is extraordinarily poor for a single ballot on a single measure in August on an off year,” he said, explaining why a mail ballot, done as securely as absentee ballots are done, would be preferable.

One wrinkle is that while all registered voters within the Cody Conservation District would receive a ballot and be able to vote, people who own land in the district but live outside of it could also vote if they fill out an affidavit affirming they are a landowner in the district. 

Doing a one-item election isn’t unheard of: Odde said Sheridan County will do similar elections for special ballot questions. 

He said the clerk’s office would need a final decision from the county at least two-and-a-half months ahead of the Aug. 25 election day in order to ramp up for the one-question election. That would theoretically put the commissioners’ deadline in early June.