What the heck does this office do? County Commissioners
When most people think about elections, they think about the President, Congress, or maybe the Governor.
But most of the decisions that impact your life happen much closer to home.
“Down ballot” races, like state legislators, school board, city councilors, and county commissioners will determine the future of our healthcare, education, public lands, housing, and lots more.
In this series of articles, Better Wyoming will go over some of the important work each of these offices do, and how they will impact your life and community.
WHY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MATTER
Lots of people know what our legislature does. Ditto for our city council. But what about the body that operates “in between” these two? County Commissions oversee our counties, just as our Councils oversee towns and the Legislature oversees the state. They have a lot of power over things that impact our day-to-day lives.
Our County Commissions:
- oversee local hospitals and clinics to make sure they are adequately funded, administered, and staffed.
- make decisions about new housing developments and distribute local tax revenue to improve communities.
- make decisions about budgets, local recreation, waste, roads, and land use.
- oversee development projects, influencing economic diversity.
- raise county taxes through levies and mills and decide how tax dollars are spent on crucial community services.
- appoint members of local bodies like library boards, public health.
- make the final decision if a new state legislator needs to be appointed between elections.
- oversee planning and construction for roads and bridges.
- coordinate on public lands issues with federal land management agencies like the US Forest Service and the BLM.
FOR EXAMPLE...
County Commissions have been at the center of some of Wyoming’s most significant debates, lately.
Resulting from recent cuts to property taxes, the Cook County Commission was forced to explain their cuts to the community’s library, while their counterparts in Hot Springs County had to cut 4-H and extension programs.
Just a few days ago, the Natrona County Commissioners passed a budget that supported local 4-H youth development, a Community Juvenile Services Board, and suicide prevention work with the Wyoming Dept. of Health. They also allocated funds for inmate healthcare and law enforcement.
Meanwhile, the Natrona County Commission is at the epicenter over a controversial gravel pit project, the Albany County Commission has overseen the expansion of a wind project that has raised objections, and Uinta County Commissioners have tightened the conditions of a data center project.
Commissioners in Laramie and Platte counties also recently worked together to appoint a new state senator after the incumbent was tapped for a federal role. Perhaps most pressingly, commissions around the state are addressing fire restrictions, as vital public safety measures.