City and County Leaders Talk at Chamber Luncheon

At the May 8 Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce Luncheon was held at the Historic Sheridan Inn. The program included updates from the Mayors and City Administrators and the Sheridan County Commissioners.

A previous post covered the mayors, this story will feature the City of Sheridan and Sheridan County updates.

Stu McRae, Administrator for City of Sheridan, filled in for Mayor Rich Bridger, who could not make the luncheon.

McRae said that this upcoming fiscal year 2025 is looking pretty good for the city of Sheridan. He said that they are up about 2 million dollars from last year, which will allow them to give some raises to employees. He talked about the various forms of funding for the city, the general-purpose excise tax, the one cent optional sales tax, direct distribution, sales and use tax, and property taxes.

He talked about a new park that they are planning for Sheridan.

Water, sewer and solid waste are fiscally sound. He said the main street construction is going well, and they are replacing some water lines as well.

Nick Siddle, Chair of the Board of Sheridan County Commissioners, talked about some things the county, especially the staff in the county that do a great job. He said that Sheridan isn’t one of the richest counties in Wyoming.

Other Wyoming counties have mineral taxes, but Sheridan County is low in mineral numbers for funding.

He talked about what the county is doing and the various sources of revenue, including the federal government, forest reserve money, a portion of county sales tax and property taxes. There is state severance tax, and various grants.

He also mentioned everything that is funded by the county, the library, the sheriff’s department, and other entities.

Other presentations were Emergency Management Coordinator Jesse Ludikhuize, who talked about the upcoming 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee, which will be held August 5–11 in Gillette, Wyoming.

Dave Schwend of Spring Creek Coal Mine north of Sheridan talked about the mine, where they market Montana and Wyoming Coal, and how they reclaim the land after the coal is taken out.

A large crowd attended the event.