The Cody Conservation District will once again be asking voters to approve a 1 mill tax to fund the programs the district does around the large region. 

On Tuesday the Park County commissioners approved allowing the district to put the question on the ballot in August. 

The tax has struggled in recent attempts on the ballot, the last two attempts failing in the 2020 primary and 2022 general elections. That’s why, board member Richard Jones said, they had asked previously to hold a special mail ballot election with just that 1 mill question on the ballot. Commissioners had turned down that request due to the extra costs associated with a separate ballot. 

Putting once again on the primary ballot this summer, however, was no issue for the commissioners. Cost will only rise $300-$500, First Deputy County Clerk Hans Odde said, as an additional ballot style will be needed for the roughly 300 unaffiliated voters in the rural areas of the Cody district. 

A mail ballot, however, would cost $26,000, Odde had noted when the district had last requested that method. 

Putting the question on the general instead would add no extra cost, but Jones said they preferred to put it on the primary with the idea that they would be getting a different type of voter from those who flock to the general. 

“We prefer to be on a primary with nonpartisan issues in it, as opposed to a general election, which oftentimes has national concerns and other things that would draw different types of voters and maybe different attitudes,” he said. 

Commission Chair Scott Steward said the key to a successful ballot will be messaging and Jones agreed, noting that it’s a tightrope to walk between providing education but avoiding lobbying, as districts are not allowed to officially stump for a ballot measure. 

“In our experience here, the biggest problem we have is people understanding that the district exists and how important it is,” Jones said. “The population centers of Powell and Cody are the majority of voters and they’re urban, they don’t have as much interaction … Much of the rural community in this county has some awareness of the conservation district and the way they work with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the feds on these things, and they’re very supportive of this.”

Cody is one of only two districts in the state, the other being Powell Clarks Fork, which does not have a regular source of funding.  

Jones said the levy would help the district plan for the long term with programs, as opposed to going year-to-year with funding sources like grants that leave the district unsure if staff funded by the grants will even be there the next year. 

That long term focus is also why, Jones said in response to questions from commissioners, the district chose to ask for a permanent tax that can only be reversed by 10% of voters bringing forward a petition to force an election where voters could choose to end the tax. 

The district also has the option of doing what special districts such as the Park County Travel Council operate under and ask for a four-year approval of the mill levy that would have to be voted on again in four years. 

“What we’re looking for is some stability for the future,” Jones said. “We’re going to be planning five years out and … the stability is really important. You can’t make plans out three years if you don’t even know if you’ll have a staff person around either.” 

Jones said last he checked the yearly homeowner cost of 1 mill in the conservation district was roughly $35, but acknowledged that has probably gone up a bit with higher home valuations. 

The question to be asked is “shall the Park County Commissioners impose a conservation district tax, not to exceed 1 mill on all property within the Conservation District for the purpose of providing natural resource programs directed by the Cody Conservation District.”

Odde said it also includes language necessitating how the tax could be repealed.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that special districts are not allowed to lobby for ballot measures and clarify that the ballot measure will be on the primary election in August.