Commission to discuss WPLI recommendations

WORLAND – The Washakie County Commission will meet today to review department reports, evaluate tax levies, and hear from one member regarding recommendations for county wilderness areas.

Washakie County’s Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) Advisory Committee met last Wednesday at the Washakie County Extension Office, in a final move to end a year-long consensus process, and send to the commissioners three recommendations to determine best-use for county wilderness study areas (WSA).

Although in May the group agreed on wording to move forward with recommendations, on Wednesday, some representatives changed their votes, effectively recommending stripping one area of its wilderness study area designation.

The goal of the WPLI group was to reach a consensus as to the use of the WSAs in the county, through public input. The primary areas of concentration in Washakie County include the Honeycombs (located between Ten Sleep and Worland), Cedar Mountain (south of Winchester and shared with Hot Springs County) and Bobcat Draw (in the northwest corner of the county, shared with Big Horn County).

The original proposals, which were submitted for public comment last month, included for the Honeycombs WSA, located 16 miles southeast of Worland and encompassing 21,000 acres of BLM- administered lands, the group identified 10,000 acres of primarily the “Hoodoo” region, to be protected due to the unique rock formations and landscape, while the remainder of the WSA would be soft-released to a regular Resource Management Plan under legislation.

Highlights of the recommendation included protection of existing grazing and range improvements, limited motorized access and road development, and protection of scenic rock formations and public use.

The recommendation was blocked however, releasing the entire area to Range Management Plan protections under the Bureau of Land Management.

Commissioner Aaron Anderson, who has directed the WPLI group for almost two years, sees the decision as almost inevitable, due to push-back from groups on both sides of the issue.

“Basically [with the vote] they were saying that the committee couldn’t come to a resolution, so it will let the agency [BLM] decide the level of protection,” said Anderson. “The Honeycombs would lose WSA [protections] but the BLM has a multitude of tools to protect those resources.”

Although Anderson will brief the commission today, no action will be taken by the body until later this month, after ample time for review.

Once committee recommendations have been formalized and approved by the county commission, the final recommendations of the WPLI will be sent to a federal delegation for introduction in the U.S. House and Senate in 2018.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business before the commission, the body will hear department reports and review tax levies recommended by the Office of the Assessor for 2018.

According to documents provided by the Washakie County Assessor’s Office, valuations for the county are up in 2018, due to a positive return of oil and gas money generated in the county over the last year.

The Board of County Commissioners is expected to levy the requisite taxes, based on the valuation figures. A mill levy is the number of dollars a taxpayer must pay for every $1,000 of assessed value on real property.

To calculate the property tax, the assessed value of the property is multiplied by the mill rate and then divided by 1,000. For example, a property with an assessed value of $50,000 with a mill rate of 20 mills would have a property tax bill of US $1,000 per year.

In order to determine the mill levy for each tax district, taxing entities must submit their final budget requests. The budget, less anticipated revenues from non-property tax sources, is divided by the assessed value to obtain the tax rate or mill levy. Assessed values determined by the assessor and values of state assessments (those industries valued by the Department of Revenue, such as utilities, minerals, etc.) are combined to determine the total assessed value within the taxing entities boundaries. An individual assessed value is multiplied by the total mill levy for the tax district to obtain an individual tax amount.

The level of assessment is the percentage of the market value that determines the assessed value. In Wyoming, the level of assessment for minerals is 100 percent, industrial use properties is 11.5 percent; and all other properties 9.5 percent. This percentage is determined by the legislature.

For Washakie County in 2017, total valuation was recorded as $124,314,529. For 2018, the valuation is listed as $135,303,672, an overall increase of $10,989,143.

Valuation for the City of Worland in 2017 was $40,693,806, with a valuation of $42,510,207 in 2018.

The Town of Ten Sleep saw a valuation of $2,575,697 in 2017, and for 2018, $2,713,616.

Washakie County School District No. 1 was valued at $98,933,350 in 2017 and $104,989,508 in 2018.

Washakie County School District No. 2 was valued at $25,387,623 in 2017, and $303,141,164 in 2018.

The commission meets at 9 a.m., at the Washakie County Courthouse.