Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
The Washakie County Commissioners unanimously approved the county’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2024-2025 at their meeting on Tuesday, July 9.
According to Chairman Aaron Anderson, large unexpended balances from federal funding flows in FY 2023-2024 will continue to pay dividends during FY 2024-2025 and beyond, in terms of investments being made by Washakie County to keep county roads, emergency services, public health, computer systems and other essential infrastructure components in good shape. Some of the significant federal funding streams have included money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF), Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), and other sources, specifically designated for use by county governments and other jurisdictions.
Anderson said there is good reason to make these infrastructure investments now. “We use that federal money to hedge against inflation,” he said. As inflation has increased, real purchasing power has decreased, making it wise now to put these funds to use. Anderson described some of FY 2023-2024’s infrastructure investments. “From the ARPA funds, we put quite a bit of money into the new ambulance center and we put a new air handler on the hospital.” Anderson also spoke of how LATCF funds have been used, which include large allocations for repairing and upgrading county roads, as well as rebuilding a road grader and trading in another one. “We made some huge investments in our gravel roads,” he said. “We crushed a lot of gravel and we’re putting that down right now.”
These infrastructure investments continue. According to the Washakie County budget, quite a bit of LATCF money from the previous fiscal year — $2,200,000 — remains to be used in FY 2024-2025. “What you’re going to see in the budget is all that LATCF money came in during the ’23-’24 year, and it has been sitting in our cash available,” Anderson said. “Many of our paved surfaces were in a condition where they could benefit from a chip seal, and we have put a lot of money into these chip seals,” he said. However, chip seals may not be enough to fix some county roads. “We have some other surfaces that have deteriorated to the point that they’re going to need more than a chip seal,” Anderson said. “You’re potentially going to see some investment in that.”
Anderson explained that that the federal funds are especially welcome because county roads, especially those with paved surfaces, are typically one of the most under-funded aspects of infrastructure management. “The base funding for that infrastructure comes from the gas and diesel tax,” he said. “We receive a little over $400,000 per year in gas and diesel tax.” However, the disparity between the funding needed for appropriate road maintenance and what is normally available is substantial. “Just for comparison, a two-inch lift on a paved road costs about $600,000 per mile,” Anderson said. He pointed out that the Lower Nowood Road alone has 15 miles of paved surface, not to mention other stretches of paved county roads including Airport Road, Washakie 10, Road 13.
Washakie County Clerk Lily Rakness-Parra also provided some insight into the new budget. She said that in addition to the unspent FY 2023-2024 LATCF funds, there remains $480,000 in ARPA funding from 2023-2024 and previous fiscal years that will be invested in infrastructure. Rakness-Parra added that several months ago ambulance service provider Cody Regional Health more than doubled its monthly fee, from $16,250 per month to $35,000 per month, and that the leftover ARPA funds will also be used through December 2024 to supplement the county’s general fund in paying for the increased service cost.
Rakness-Parra explained that the $1.4 million in PILT funding received several weeks ago by Washakie County from the U.S. Department of the Interior is part of FY 2023-2024’s revenues, and not those of the current FY. She said that these funds will also be invested in Washakie County’s infrastructure needs.
Rakness-Parra also advised that Washakie County maintains an emergency fund of $3.5 million in cash reserves.
In other respects, compared to county budgets of previous years, Rakness-Parra said that for FY 2024-2025 there are no major changes in the amounts of other kinds of revenues or expenditures. She highlighted the fact that budget allocations for wages and salaries of Washakie County employees remain mostly flat and said this is definitely a concern, especially with inflation. “The biggest challenge we face is getting our wages and salaries to levels comparable to those of similar counties,” Rakness-Parra said. “And we need be able to sustain those levels.”