This content is paid for by the Forward Fremont County PAC.
Forward Fremont County proposes one-half percent (½%) sales tax to support county growth.
Forward Fremont County’s proposed one-half percent (½%) sales tax increase will be on Aug. 18, 2020, primary ballot. The initiative will fund county-wide transportation services and economic development projects beginning March 1, 2021.
If passed, Forward Fremont County will disburse 30 percent of the sales tax collections to local commercial air service (20%) and ground transportation (10%). The remaining 70 percent will be allocated for community-led economic development projects. Fremont County communities will be able to independently select economic development projects to best suit their own community’s needs.
“The possibilities for economic development projects are virtually unlimited,” Kevin Kershisnik, Executive Director of IDEA Inc. Riverton’s Economic Development entity said. “To name a few, communities may choose to support business retention and expansion (BRE), entrepreneurship, business recruitment, development of community or recreational facilities, enhance rural healthcare, last-mile broadband, housing, etc.”
The Forward Fremont County Initiative will allocate disbursements to Fremont County and the six most populous municipalities. Based on 2019 sales tax collections, the additional half-percent (½%) sales tax would result in the communities of Dubois, Hudson, Lander, Pavilion, Riverton and Shoshoni receiving approximately $55,000, $26,000, $424,000, $14,000, $610,000 and $36,000, respectively, for their economic development projects. Fremont County will receive about $1 million for economic development projects. Economic development projects on the Wind River Indian Reservation are eligible for county allocation. In total, these economic development projects would cost the average Fremont County citizen less than $80 a year in sales tax.
Kershisnik said, “Maintaining or growing Fremont County will be very difficult without this one-half percent (½%) sales tax increase. If our communities are not growing economically, they are shrinking — We must invest in our future.”
To learn more about Forward Fremont County’s ballot initiative, visit the Forward Fremont County Facebook page at facebook.com/forwardfremontcounty, email [email protected], or visit the website at forwardfremontcounty.org.
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