6th Penny Tax Initiative Suspended Due to COVID-19 Economic Concerns

6th Penny Tax Initiative Suspended Due to COVID-19 Economic Concerns

Commissioners Wally Johnson and Lauren Schoenfeld discuss the 6th penny tax during the May 5 Sweetwater County Commissioner meeting.

SWEETWATER COUNTY– The Sweetwater County Commissioners voted to suspend the 6th penny tax initiative during Tuesday morning’s meeting.

With current economic uncertainty due to COVID-19 Coronavirus concerns, the commissioners chose to suspend the 6th penny effort as they do not believe it will pass with Sweetwater County voters.

The 6th penny initiative will be readdressed toward the end of 2020 for continued discussions with current proposed projects.

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The City of Rock Springs suspended their 6th penny projects at the start of April due to COVID-19 concerns which sparked a discussion over how the remaining entities should proceed.

Commissioner Wally Johnson said he did not believe the tax would pass without Rock Springs, and therefore he said it was in the best interest of the entire county to suspend the initiative.

Commissioner Roy Lloyd said he believed it would be difficult to bring the tax back at a later date if it failed.

Rock Springs Councilman Keaton West pointed out that the government asked for the tax, not the people, and therefore the elected officials had the responsibility to suspend the initiative. Commissioner Johnson agreed with this.

“The decision rests with us, and we’re going to have to make that hard decision,” Commissioner Johnson said before the vote.

Green River Mayor Pete Rust suggested putting the decision off for a month, but expressed that the City of Green River would be fine with suspending the tax initiative until next year if necessary.

The commissioners discussed postponing the decision for another month, however, they agreed that did not allow enough time to educate the public on the tax and the projects. Without proper education, the commissioners did not believe the tax would pass.

The 6th penny tax may reemerge next year in a special election.