It’s going to be a quieter fall politically in Park County, but the November election still holds some big decisions. 

With the dust settled on the filings for special districts, the Park County School District 1 board will once again be a race, as there are six candidates for three open seats. And with veteran trustee Trace Paul not running again, there will be at least one new face on the school board next year. 

I only covered our local school board for less than a year between education reporters, but I was very impressed with the care the board took when deciding issues. It was also a joy to see the incredible talents across the district, from administrators to teachers and staff, all highlighted at various points throughout the school year. 

As I’ve said before, we have a wonderful school district and the board sets the policy direction to hopefully keep it that way, if not improve it. 

There are also contested races for a number of city council seats, now down to two candidates each. They make important decisions as well — just think of the debates over pet policies and e-bike usage within the last year. 

While many of the other special district positions aren't contested — there are just enough candidates to fill each open seat for the hospital and college boards, for instance — there are still races for many of the statewide and legislative positions that have drawn Democratic candidates as well as Republicans. We even have a Park County legislative race — House 50 — with a libertarian running against the Republican candidate, and a governor’s race featuring a Constitution Party candidate in addition to the major parties. 

For many people, though, the biggest question will be at the end of the ballot: a proposition to cut by 50% property taxes assessed on the primary home of Wyoming residents. This is just the home, not the land, outbuildings or second homes. Still, it would mean a decent tax break for most homeowners and consequently a sizable decrease in property tax revenues for the many groups that benefit from it, from county and municipal governments to fire and cemetery districts. 

For all county residents, we will also have another question, whether to add a temporary 1 cent sales tax to cover a new Powell senior center, renovations to the Cody Auditorium and a number of Meeteetse needs. 

Our last paper had a letter addressing each of these ballot measures, and I suspect we’ll see plenty more before the general election.