As they compete for a Ward 1 seat for the Powell City Council, Steve Nickles and Holly Cole are united in their praise of the community.

“I am running because I think Powell is awesome, and I want to keep it awesome,” Cole said at a Monday night forum.

The assistant vice president at First Bank of Wyoming specifically mentioned that she wants to help keep Powell’s small town values.

As for Nickles, the longtime oil field manager and state network specialist said he wants to continue his family’s long history of serving the Powell community. 

“Powell is a great place to live,” he said, “and I want to keep it that way by encouraging growth, protecting the services we depend on, and watching every dollar carefully.”

That wasn’t the only area of agreement, either.

For instance, both complimented the city’s communication and both expressed opposition to a proposed property tax cut. 

The ballot initiative

Proposition 1, which appears on general election ballots across the state, would exempt 50% of residents’ home values from property taxes. The measure would not impact all residential properties, as it only applies to primary residences and not to rentals, second homes or the land surrounding a home.

Cole said she initially supported the idea, because “it sounded nice, but then I looked into it more.”

She noted that 56% of Park County’s property taxes come from residential properties and “if we’re cutting that in half, then that’s going to really affect a lot of programs.”

Cole serves on the Powell Recreation District Board — an entity that she sees as “very important” for local youth — and believes it would be one of the first programs to get hit by cuts.

As for Nickles, he said he understands why people support the ballot initiative.

“Property taxes went up fast during the Covid years, and that hurt a lot of families,” he said.

However, Nickles expressed concern about the impact the cut would have on local schools, Northwest College and Powell Valley Hospital. He wants to instead see how the Legislature’s recent relief measures — including limiting year-over-year property tax increases to 4% and a 25% cut on primary residences — continue to play out.

“We are among the lowest-taxed citizens in the country, and I want to keep it that way,” he said, “but I don’t want to cut our own throats to make it happen.”

Housing and budgets

Along with raising property taxes, higher property values have also made local homes and rentals more expensive.

Asked what role the city could or should play in housing affordability, Cole noted that developers are already working to build new homes on both the north and south edges of town. She also noted that the city is working to revamp its master plan, which could potentially assist with growth.

“The prices of houses we really can’t control too much, but we can control the regulations,” Cole said.

Nickles similarly said the city’s role is to set clear, fair regulations and, when possible, make it easier for developers to build more homes and businesses.

“I encourage development, and I’d like to see our community grow,” he said. “But again, regulation is needed to make new buildings that are safe and built to code.”

Nickles also said he’d be cautious about taking on any new financial partnerships right now, noting the city used about $1.1 million worth of its general fund reserves to balance the current budget.

He said he has a lot of experience with budgeting and wants to protect core city services: water, sewer, electricity, police and streets.

Cole said she went through the city’s most recent budget and found it to be “very well done.”

“Everything’s in it, and it has explanations, so there’s no hiding of what's going on,” she said.

About those pets

The candidates did express different opinions about the city’s pet regulations. Earlier this year, the council considered whether to allow residents to have more than two dogs and ultimately decided to stick with that limit.

Cole said she sees room to improve the regulations. She suggested it makes sense to focus more on an animal’s behavior than a specific number, noting that one particular dog could be more of a nuisance than four others.

“You need to enforce the safety more than maybe the numbers,” she said.

Nickles, however, said the current ordinances already give the city the authority to “step in and take action when pet owners are irresponsible —  whether that be the nuisance or, you know, too many.”

Nickles said he didn’t think the regulations are overly restrictive.

“... they allow us all to live together as a community,” he said.

Whoever wins the general election will replace Ward 1 Councilman Steve Lensegrav, who didn’t seek reelection. In a five-way primary race, Nickles received 153 votes (38.8%) while Cole received 88 votes (22.3%).

Ward 1 generally represents the northeastern portion of the city.