State representatives for districts that cover Powell and the surrounding area held a town hall meeting Wednesday to present some bills they’re working on and take questions from members of the communities they serve.

All three Powell lawmakers present commented on the sizable turnout, which filled a conference room at the Yellowstone Building on the Northwest College campus on Wednesday.

“The more we know from you, the more we’re able to speak with some knowlege,” said Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell.

“And the better to represent you,” added Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell.

The Legislature convenes on Feb. 10 and will be in session for approximately 20 days. This is a budget session, meaning much of the legislation to be considered this year will involve spending and taxes.

“We’re in a tight budget year,” Kost warned.

The Wyoming Consensus Revenue Estimating Group recently estimated that revenues would be down $78 million from where they had expected to be.

“It’ll be a challenging year,” Kost said. “It will not be a walk in the park.”

Taxes

The question and answer period of the meeting brought out a lot of questions about taxes.

“A tax can be a quick fix, but it might not be a long term fix,” Kost said.

He said any taxes will need good planning and analysis to fully understand impacts and benefits, and with budgets getting slimmer, there may be some worth looking at.

“I’m not in favor of taxes,” Kost said. “At the same time, I’m not in favor of losing all our opportunities.”

He also suggested that, for those who advocate for new taxes, they should consider taxes that they would pay themselves. Speaking after the meeting, he said that goes for spending as well.

“If we’re not going to support taxes, what are we wiling to give up that taxes support?” Kost said.

Rep. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, expressed opposition to a proposed tax on certain corporations, as well as taxes in general, which he said would discourage businesses from locating in Wyoming. Members of the audience pointed out that not many companies are looking to get established in the state despite its tax-friendly environment.

Jake Dillinger of rural Powell said corporations don’t pay taxes. Those costs are just passed onto consumers, who ultimately pay the tax.

“It ain’t free. It comes from us,” he said.

Kost argued that a skilled workforce is needed to attract new companies to the state, and he applauded the role of community colleges in helping to create that.

A discussion arose over a question about ad valorem taxes, which companies pay to the state and counties, with the counties’ share paid 18 months after the production. Currently, there are tens of millions in delinquent ad valorem taxes owed to counties, but none of that is for Park County.

Laursen said bills to change that have come up every year in the Revenue Committee, but the problem is that in going to monthly payments, then the companies not only have to pay for production 18 months ago, but also for the new monthly tax bills as well.

“A lot of them will close if you force them to do that,” he said. “We need to keep them in business.”

He suggested a 15 percent discount incentive might make it feasible, but so far no plan has been passed.

With declining coal revenues, a discussion about increased renewable energy came up.

Kost expressed some reservations about increased wind power. He said wind companies need to pay taxes on what they produce, and pointed out how turbines spoil the views wherever they are erected. They also might not be as environmentally beneficial as believed.

“The carbon footprint is not as pristine as everybody likes to say it is,” Kost said. “The carbon footprint could be even more than coal.”

Spending

The other side of the budget debate is what spending to cut.

Laursen said he thinks there are a lot more ways to reduce spending, an option he advocates exploring much further before any tax increases are pursued.

Dillinger told the lawmakers that government should live by the same standards as industry does, where increases in expenditures are not automatic and have to be justified.

Northrup said that he personally knows of Wyoming Department of Transportation employees who have not received raises in many years. He said salaries become an issue when new engineers are being hired on salaries higher than those who have been working in the department a while, because the department can’t fill the positions at lower salaries.

Questions from the audience raised concerns about personal use of state vehicles. Northrup discussed efficiency studies that found a greater need to track vehicles, and the state has been installing GPS trackers to get a better grip on vehicle use. He said the state is also doing more to maintain school buses rather than replace them.

“They’re tightening down on it,” Laursen said.

Northrup chairs the House side of the Joint Education Committee, which sponsored a recalibration bill for the state’s education spending. The state has been working with consultants to address Wyoming’s education funding model. The model was created to accommodate a requirement that funding across districts be equal.

Since then, “we hung ornaments on it. That’s the best way to describe it,” Northrup said.

With budgets falling, lawmakers have had to take off those ornaments and examine the model. They’re looking at how big classrooms are and a number of other expenditures that could be reduced to help address the $1.7 billion the state spends on education.

“That eats up a big chunk of our budget, and we need to whittle that down a little,” Northrup said.

The lawmakers said the state’s “rainy day” fund will be needed to satisfy spending needs, as it has been in past years.

Good communications

After the end of the meeting, with hands in the audience still raised to make comments and ask questions, the lawmakers requested their constituents email them with concerns. They asked people to put their home addresses on the messages, because they often look for that first on the emails they receive.

“We get the ones from save the whales and save the leopards,” Northrup said.

Kost also asked his constituents not to send him form letters that advocacy groups send out to provide talking points to state representatives.

“Talk to us from your heart,” Kost said. “It doesn’t have to be long. Those form letters are so frustrating. I still get some that say, ‘Put your name here’ at the top.”

He also said senators and representatives are truly trying to their best to do what’s right for the state in a difficult financial period.