WHEATLAND – During their meeting last week, Platte County commissioners held interviews with multiple applicants for open Library and Planning and Zoning board positions.
The commissioners shared appreciation for the work and due diligence performed by members of the boards and their resulting recommendations on issues presented before the commissioners throughout the year.
Lisa Stenmark was appointed to the open Library Board position. Marty Shepard was re-appointed, and Jay Collins was appointed to the Platte County Planning and Zoning board.
The commission resolved to continue the optional 1 percent sales tax (fifth penny tax) after the councils of all five towns in the county voted to approve its continuation. This tax represents one percent of the tax on sales of all goods or services within the county and proceeds are used by the towns and county to fund governmental operations to continue to provide “a level of service expected by citizens.” 

The tax was voted in by a majority of the electorate in the 1989 primary election.
County Treasurer Kristi Rietz reported most people have paid their property taxes owed, and a list of 97 properties who are delinquent will be posted in the newspaper and at the courthouse.
She reported the last payment on the Phase I courthouse renovation project will be received in mid-July, after just six years of payments. The $4,875,000 to pay for the renovation has come from the one percent specific purpose excise tax (sixth penny tax) voted in by the electorate in 2018 and can only be used for specific projects approved by voters.
By comparison, the county paid $3,321,177.91 in interest for construction of the Platte County Detention center beginning in 2001 (and after a $5,000,000 bond re-finance). The final payment on that bond was in 2020.
“There was a lot more up-front cost [for the courthouse renovation], but we saved over a million dollars in interest,” commissioner Ian Jolovich said in comparing the payoff of debt for phase I of the courthouse renovation project to that of the detention center.
Rietz said the county has been diligent in carefully managing its money, so it will cashflow its own project, rather than purchasing a bond, for the Phase II renovation of the exterior of the courthouse as approved by voters last year with the sixth penny tax. This tax will continue for the Phase II project until the debt of $4,250,000 has been collected, (for the county, plus the $10,150,000 to be collected for projects supervised by Chugwater, Glendo, Guernsey, Hartville, and Wheatland) at which time the tax will be discontinued.
The commissioners also signed a juvenile housing agreement with Laramie County, since the local detention center does not have a separate holding section meeting state requirements for juveniles at the detention center. They approved an annual memorandum of understanding between the University of Wyoming to split payment of salaries for agriculture extension employees. The commission spent time last Tuesday afternoon discussing budget issues with various departments in preparation for the upcoming budget session on July 9.
The next meeting of the county commissioners will be at 9 a.m. July 2 at the Platte County Courthouse. The public is welcome to attend.