Proposed Constitutional Amendment A explained

On the November 3 ballot, there is the Constitutional Amendment ‘A’ being presented to the public to vote upon. Many citizens are unaware of this ballot issue, according to Wyoming district 28 house representative John Winter who spoke recently at the Town Council meeting. 

Advocating for a Yes Vote on the amendment is the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM). WAM President Scott Dillinger said that this is “a critical ballot measure that will help ensure safe and reliable infrastructure in communities across the state.”

Dillinger adds, “Amendment A is a proposed Wyoming Constitutional amendment that will be on the November 3 general election ballot. This question will update the limits of the amount of debt a municipality can incur to maintain and improve local sewer systems. Specifically, it removes sewer system debit limits from the Wyoming Constitution and allows those debt limits to be set in the future by the Legislature, just as is done for other utilities.”

“The current method was instituted in 1890 during the Wyoming Constitutional Convention when only a handful of towns in Wyoming had any sewer system at all. This antiquated cap severely hinders cities’ and towns’ ability to fund improvements to municipal sewer systems that now serve a vast majority of the people who live and work in Wyoming”

President Dillinger said, “This requirement was established 130 years ago, and it needs to be updated to reflect every community’s needs in 2020. Amendment A is not a tax question or tax increase. It simply removes the debt limit requirement from the Wyoming Constitution and allows it to be set by the Legislature.”

“Voting ‘yes’ for Amendment A will ensure that our municipalities’ sewer systems can continue to invest in much-needed infrastructure and remain safe for Wyomingites,” said WAM Legislative Committee Chairman and Cody Mayor Matt Hall. “Do not leave the ballot blank. A skipped ballot counts as a ‘no’ vote towards this critical initiative.”

The ballot measure is ‘revenue neutral’ and will not generate any new state spending or debt. It is essentially a ‘clean up’ measure intended to bring antiquated law up to date. 

The current debt limit is four percent. Voting ‘yes’ would remove that limit on sewer projects.

Thermopolis Assistant to Mayor Fred Crosby said, “I think WAM is pushing this because there are some smaller communities that might have to go over that limit to get their sewer project done for borrowing money and going into debt.”

Crosby said he doesn’t see this amendment negatively affecting Thermopolis. He said that each city in the state would need to properly handle their finances wisely so that they don’t acquire too much debt and that the Legislature will still set limits as well, like other utilities.