Wyoming senator briefs Rock Springs council as cities brace for budget-session tax proposals

Senator John Cole visited the Rock Springs City Council on Feb. 3 to outline priorities for the short 2026 budget session and to solicit input from local officials.

Cole told the council the session requires a two-thirds introduction threshold for bills and that many proposals could materially affect local revenue. He described proposals to shift property-tax burdens — including talk of reducing property taxes and offsetting revenue with a 2% sales-tax increase — as numerically insufficient and potentially harmful to local services. "I was not in favor of back funding," Cole said, referring to temporary measures that would delay the long-term funding impact, and urged a longer-term solution for municipal revenues.

Cole also discussed gaming regulation and what he described as a push for stronger local control over where skill-based games and other gaming devices may operate. He said one priority is to restrict skill-based games from grocery stores and narrow where such machines may be placed. "At the very least, they're restricted to the liquor footprint of the liquor store," he said.

The senator raised a public-safety bill he is drafting following an incident at the Clarion where law-enforcement travel was impeded; he described a draft proposal to increase penalties for using a vehicle to block movement and called for council and chief-of-police input on the scope of any changes. "You can't use it as a mobile blockade," he said of vehicle-based interference, and said he is working on a draft with the Legislative Service Office.

Councilors pressed him on several proposals, including funding and distribution formulas for House/Senate File 32 (9-1-1 funding) and Senate File 64 (an infusion into the Wyoming housing revolving loan fund, which Cole said would boost WCDA low-interest loans). Cole declined to offer precise allocations for Sweetwater County but said distribution is often population-based. He invited council members to provide feedback and to contact him while bills remain in draft.

Why this matters: The mayor and council said they are watching the session closely because changes to property taxation, direct-distribution formulas, or state backfilling could alter local budgets, service levels, and the city's ability to fund public safety, road maintenance and other core functions. The council received Cole’s request for input and indicated they would follow up with the senator and relevant city staff.

Next steps: Cole asked council members to email or text him with specific concerns and said several gaming and local-control bills were already moving through management council. The council did not take formal action during the visit.