KEMMERER — Brian Muir wears multiple hats as the city administrator for Kemmerer, and one of those is raising funds for town projects. Sometimes that requires calls to the State Loan and Investment Board or applications for grant funding.

Currently, Muir is hoping to raise money through a sixth-penny tax, but first it must get on next year’s ballot. The tax would allow towns in Lincoln County to cooperate with each other, using funding raised from a voluntary sales tax for specific projects. 

If passed, the resolution for Kemmerer would include money for road repair, which Muir said the town desperately needs.

To do that, he said, “It requires the communities in the county to come together on projects, get it on the ballot and get people to vote for it.”

Each town in the county would submit specifics for proposed projects and funding needed. Citizens would then vote for or against the tax on the 2024 ballot.

Muir has been working on getting this tax bill approved since he began his job as administrator nearly five years ago.

“It is a lot of work,” he said.

Initially, he tried to pass the sixth-penny tax at the district level, which would allow Kemmerer to obtain funding even if the north part of the county did not vote for the bill.

After that failed, Muir said, “Now we are back to square one.” Again, they will ask all the towns in the district to submit projects to make the tax appeal to everyone.   

Part of the challenge, Muir said, is due to the diverse needs in Lincoln County.

“The majority of the population in the county is up north,” Muir said, “and they have different needs than we do.”

He said they plan to organize a meeting where the north and south regions of the county can come together and talk about what they can accomplish that is mutually beneficial.

Muir said the county commissioners seem to be on board, and he expects they will do what they can to get the county motivated.

Stressing again that roads are the highest priority for Kemmerer, Muir said the Star Valley area has shown interest in a recreational swimming facility.

Each project will need to be accompanied with specifics about funding before they go on the ballot. Muir has talked with the city engineer and public works director to identify streets that are most in need of repair.

“We will need to come up with an amount of funding needed for the project,” he said.

Though the sixth-penny tax was on the ballot in 2018, it did not receive enough votes to pass.

“We need to inform the public about this,” Muir said. “It is a project-based tax that is not permanent.”

Muir said the projects would be listed on the ballot and, if passed, they get funded for the requested dollar amount.

“This is an opportunity for people in the community,” he said. “We are not raising property tax. A lot of the money comes from tourists in the form of sales tax.”

Muir said other cities in the state are utilizing this tax.

“This is an economic development opportunity,” he said. “It will help our economy.”