JACKSON, Wyo. — The Board of County Commissioners approved a proposition that would ask voters for an additional penny of Special Excise Tax (SPET) totaling $88 million to raise funds for a new Teton County Justice Center, during a June 18 meeting.
Now, the Jackson Town Council will need to approve the same ballot language for the item to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. The deadline for the final ballot language is July 17.
In 2019, voters denied a $2 million SPET initiative “for the purpose of planning, designing, engineering, site preparation and preliminary construction costs for a new or renovated Teton County Courthouse. Funds may also be used for security improvements to the existing Teton County.” At the time, renovations weren’t off the table, and a rebuild was estimated at $60 million.
Since then, various funding options have been explored. Thirty million dollars of the county’s budget has also been set aside for the project, but funding hit a roadblock in 2023 when the county was denied a loan for $80 million from the Wyoming Office of State Land and Investment Board (SLIB) due to the loan amount exceeding the county’s tax revenue.
Currently, the county is collecting a 1% SPET for the 15 ballot initiatives passed by voters in 2022. Those items total over $166 million, and distribution of the SPET funds began in November 2023.
State statute allows for a county to collect an excise tax, “not to exceed 2% on retail sales of tangible personal property, admissions and services made within the county.” Items like groceries are exempt from the tax.
According to the County Treasurer, the 2022 SPET and this proposed SPET could be collected simultaneously, with collections for this year’s item beginning in the first quarter of 2025. Yearly SPET collections are estimated at $21 million in Teton County.
Sarah Mann, Director of General Services for Teton County, and County Attorney Keith Gingery explained the complexities of financing the project to the Commissioners.
“The problem with SPET is it takes a while to collect,” Gingery said. “The idea is to build in inflation so by the time you’ve collected, you have enough money to actually build.”
Gingery and Mann explained that the county could issue lease revenue bonds, with 4% interest, to get money up front and use SPET money to pay back those loans.
“We are now talking about potentially building in 2025 at the earliest, so that adds two years of construction inflation,” Mann said. “Wimber has assumed a 6% construction inflation, so right now the total project cost is at $116 million,” noting that that does not include relocation costs for the current building. The initial estimate in May 2023 was $110 million.
“The numbers have shown that the sooner that we start, that it does save us, even if we do borrow because of the construction inflation, then if we wait to collect this SPET money,” Mann said.
She discussed a number of scenarios, including proposing a 0.5% tax, which would require the commissioners to ask for $110 million on the SPET ballot to account for inflation.
Commissioner Mark Newcomb discussed the options, saying, “With the half-penny SPET, the voters would also need to recognize that the financing costs are not going to be somewhere in the ballpark of $3.5 million but $16 million, so that kind of makes it a stark discussion.”
The Commissioners eventually landed on the “best option for the quickest construction with the least revenue bonds,” asking the town to approve, and then the voters, an additional one-centSPET tax to raise $88 million.
Vice-Chairwoman Natalia D. Macker moved the motion, and following unanimous approval, Newcomb took a moment to speak directly to the media, “to run through the number to accurately portray the costs.”
“The project construction cost is $116.5 million, the total cost including financing cost is $120 million and this does incorporate the use of $30 million we’ve set aside for this project,” he said.
The new Justice Center would combine the current Teton County Courthouse, built in 1964, and Detention Facility, built in 1984, into one building, housing the District Court, Circuit Court, Teton County and Prosecuting Attorney’s Offices, Clerk of the District Court and the Teton County Sheriff’s Offices. According to Teton County, both buildings are beyond repair or renovation with structural, safety and accessibility issues.
Ann Sutton, Clerk of the District Court, made the only public comment during the meeting, sharing personal stories highlighting the importance of a new Justice Center.
“It is my belief that every member of the public, myself and yourself, could one day find ourselves in this important facility of justice. We need a safe facility, we need a secure facility, we need an accessible facility,” Sutton said. “The time is now. The courthouse can not be delayed.”
