JACKSON, Wyo. — While there are a number of housing-related SPET items on the ballot, one item stands alone; funding for the planning of a senior assisted living center in Teton County.
This was the final SPET item added to the ballot, and if passed, would be used to conduct a needs assessment and feasibility study.
In January 2021, Legacy Lodge, owned by Nye Health Services, announced that the assisted living center would close its doors. The company cited impacts from the COVID pandemic, in addition to Jackson’s small market size, as reasons behind the closure. At the time, 36 of the 57 apartments were in use.
An application was originally submitted last spring, requesting $20 million to utilize an empty existing facility or provide for the purchase of land and construction of a new facility.
According to that application, “independent living at Pioneer Homestead is full, there is no assisted living in the county, and the skilled nursing facility at Sage Living is also full with a 50-person waiting list. Approximately, 2% of the U.S. population is currently using assisted living. In Teton County, that would suggest that 467 members of our population (23,331) could need this care.”
In June, both elected bodies agreed to not include the original assisted living facility item on the ballot, agreeing that the plan wasn’t developed enough. Then in July, at the final meeting before the SPET ballot deadline, a number of community members spoke out in favor of adding a senior assisted living item to the ballot and a new proposal was presented, requesting $1,930,000 to hire a consultant to conduct a needs assessment and feasibility study. Funds might also be used for a conceptual design. The Town and County opted to add the revised version to the ballot.
The item will appear on the ballot as follows:
Senior Center of Jackson Hole-Senior Assisted Living Planning:“$1,930,000 to hire professional services to perform and provide a needs assessment, feasibility study, and proposed options for establishing senior assisted living facilities in Teton county, which may include conceptual design. This project is sponsored by Teton County.”
Project costs:
- Design: $1,150,000
- Planning, Needs Assessment, Consultants: $780,000
During the July 18 meeting, questions arose about why the language needed to be so specific, compared to other SPET items that are otherwise vague.
Deputy County Attorney Abigail Moore explained that every other ballot proposal is tied to a framework that already exists, like a board or trust with regulations, procedures and accountability.
“We are trying to address language that allows the community to explore this because it’s clearly a need in the community to assess the situation and look for solutions, but not go too far to where the language is suggesting we are about to build a building or convert a building,” Moore said on July 18.
During a recent Board of County Commission meeting, Commissioner Mark Newcomb suggested that Legacy Lodge could be turned back into an assisted living center. Teton County Planning and Building Services Director Chris Neubecker explained that since the facility has been closed for more than a year, the conditional use permit has expired. The current owners, Stage Stop Inc., are working to gain approval to turn the space into housing units.
As a reminder, SPET stands for Specific Purpose Excise Tax, which is a voter-approved one-cent sales tax in Teton County on most goods and services excluding unprepared foods, like groceries.
SPET 101: How it works
- Yearly SPET collections are estimated at $21 million.
- It’s estimated that 2019 funding will be fully allocated by the end of December 2023.
- For SPET measures voted on in 2022, funding will be allocated to receiving entities starting in January 2024.
- Projects that require less funding aren’t necessarily funded first.
- Funding is allocated monthly based on a percentage.
