Dear Editor:

Mr. Lee’s April 5 letter on tax increases shows a basic misunderstanding of taxes and particularly a mischaracterization of the Cody Conservation District. He is disillusioned with “bureaucrats” willing to increase taxes but it is elected officials and/or the public that approves tax increases. Bureaucrats may ask for budget increases, but it’s the elected officials who have to find the funds. I assume he votes for those officials. I don’t believe Mr. Lee lives in the Cody Conservation District so I’m not sure why he feels the need to weigh in, as he doesn’t have a vote.

He states that the district “exists just fine on your existing funding.” There are 34 conservation districts in Wyoming, three in Park County, and only two districts in the state have no permanent source of funding: Cody and Powell-Clarks Fork.

Founded in 1942, the Cody district has operated for 80 years on restricted or time-limited grants. The five elected supervisors serve without pay and the district just hired its first employee in 10 years using a time-limited grant. Mr. Lee seems to think this is ineffective management and our budget (non-existent) could be redirected to some other agency.

The Cody Conservation District encompasses 2.5 million acres in Park County, an area larger than Yellowstone. The mission is to conserve soil and water resources and be the voice of local citizens to interact with other government agencies and private landowners. The district has no regulatory authority but weighs in on land-use policies and provides education and technical assistance in soil and conservation matters.

As an official government agency, the district has, over the years, funneled millions of dollars from other entities to local conservation projects. All of this has been done without a dependable funding source to pay the bills. As one could imagine, this makes long-term planning very challenging and even threatens our year-to-year existence.

We as taxpayers believe people will pay for what they value. After 80 years it seems right that this district should have some support from the citizens they serve. A 1-mill property tax levy on the average property owner in the district amounts to about $24 a year. We hope people will learn more about all the conservation districts and support what they value. 

Sincerely,

Russ Dwyer

Bobbie Holder

Vince Vanata

Joe Kondelis

Richard Jones

Cody Conservation District
Board of Supervisors