Dear editor:

I have been able to locate the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) assessment rates that have been prepared by Mr. Trent Reed, general manager of the Shoshone Irrigation District (SID) and approved by Mr. Cox, president of SID. I will present the information in the following manner: Item name/last year rate/new rate/percent change/ bill type, so that everyone can easily track the changes that were proposed by Mr. Reed.

1) Landowner Fee $300/$340.25/ 13.42%/onetime fee. 2) Operations & Maintenance $27.10/$27.10/no change/charge per acre. 3) Rehab & Betterment $2/$2/no change/charge per acre. 4) New Equipment Fund/a new fee of $2/ charge per acre. 5) Mossing $1/$1 no change/charge per acre.

From the summary information above SID has paid no attention to the petitions presented, the opinions voiced by many small farmers and landowners at one monthly meeting and the information presented that shows that the landowner fee is unfairly burdensome to small farmers and landowners. To summarize this, an induvial landowner with 1 acre would have a per acre charge of $372.35. An individual landowner with 10 acres would have a per acre charge of $66.13. An individual with 100 acres would have a per acre charge of $35.50. An individual with 1,000 acres would have a per acre charge of only $32.44. 

Because there are approximately 1,140 landowners with less than 30 acres and 268 landowners with more than 30 acres, the cost impact varies greatly. For example, a small landowner with 2 acres would be paying $170.13 landowner fee per acre, while a large farmer with 500 acres would be paying a landowner fee of 68 cents per acre. It is abundantly clear that the majority of the costs raised by the landowner fee are paid by the smaller landowners.  

In my opinion, the currently proposed assessment structure is fundamentally flawed. It is not impartial, it does not treat largest landowners and the small landowners and farmers similarly and it is neither fair nor equitable.

This is why the upcoming hearing on the 2026 Fiscal Year Budget is so critical. This is the small landowners and farmers only chance to be to testify and present our side of this issue directly to the judge who is the individual who will grant final approval in this matter. We need to have as many people as possible attend this audio hearing and to have everyone request that we can have the necessary changes made to make the Fiscal Year 2026 assessments treat everyone fairly and equitability. That is all we want is to be treated fairly and equitably, by having everyone in the SID pay the same rate on a per acres basis. So, make sure that your voice is heard by the court by calling (307) 316-5574, followed by the access code 582444370.

I have uploaded copies of the following documents for your information and review to our website, The 2026 Fiscal Year Budget Report of Commissioners, The Order Fixing Time and Place of Hearing on 2026 Fiscal Year Budget Report, my worksheet entitled FY2026 Budget Demographic Data Extraction and a copy of this letter to the editor on our website: shoshoneirrigationissues.com. You can also contact Mr. Trent Reed at SID and obtain copies of everything listed above, except for my worksheet. You may also want to contact your area commissioner to ask them directly why the current assessment system is so broken.

Rob Stevens

Powell