Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

TEN SLEEP – In a sit down interview with the Northern Wyoming Daily News on Wednesday, Ten Sleep Mayor Jack Haggerty discussed the town’s annual budget for 2017-2018, passed by the town council in July.

“The amazing thing, is that if we were to lose the one cent sales tax revenue we receive, it would be a huge deal,” said Haggerty, in reference to the $205,000 the town receives in sales tax, which amounts to roughly a third of the town’s overall budget revenue.

With an actual operating budget of around $700,000, the town needs all of the revenue it can get.

On paper, the town has a budget of $1,738,600, although $1.2 million of that is earmarked especially for a current sewer upgrade project, and a large portion of that total came from grants and loans from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The town also received a mineral royalty’s grant in the amount of $110,000 and a county-wide consensus grant for $206,000 to re-pave streets and fix any damage from the sewer replacement project.

“We aren’t expecting any large municipal projects in the next year, so no major expenditures, but any radical changes at the legislative level could cause some problems,” said Haggerty.

On Tuesday, the town council voted to release a pay order of $104,710.49 for the ongoing sewage project, by Bornhoft Construction of Riverton.

The project, paid for in part by a loan and grant from the United States Department of Agriculture will upgrade the original, circa 1930s, sewer lines located in the northern section of town, resurface Fir Street, and provide upgrades to the town’s sewage lagoon.

The project is paid for in part by a loan and grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, totaling $500,000.

“Originally, we bid the [sewer] project thinking we would have to dig up the streets, but Bornhoft is pushing the pipe through the original pipe, so it’s saving a bit of money and inconvenience for the town,” noted Haggerty.

The mayor did note that some parts of the town to the north still have gravel streets, and they are considering paving them with the road grant money, after the completion of the sewer repair.

According to the budget, as supplied by the town clerk, Ten Sleep receives $5,300 in licensing fees and renewals, and from the state, $173,328 in royalties, sales and use taxes, cigarette and lodging, one-time distribution and fuel taxes. The town receives $765 from the state lottery.

Water revenues account for $106,000, while sewer rates account for an additional $69,584. These two revenue streams also help pay town employees, a fraction taken from each account depending on how much time was spent on water or sewer issues.

The town currently has a reserve account of $1 million, held in certificates of deposit.