WAM Encourages Wyoming Citizens to Support Constitutional Amendment ‘A’

The Wyoming Association of Municipalities President Mayor Scott Dellinger of Mountain View announced Sept. 21, the commencement of a statewide effort by WAM to educate Wyoming citizens about Constitutional Amendment A, a critical ballot measure that will help ensure safe and reliable infrastructure in communities across the state. 

Amendment A is a proposed Wyoming Constitutional amendment that will be on the Nov. 3, general election ballot. This question will update the limits on the amount of debt a municipality can incur to maintain and improve local sewer systems. Specifically, it removes sewer system debt limits from the Wyoming Constitution and allows those debt limits to be set in the future by the Legislature, just as is done for other utilities, according to a WAM press release.

The current method was instituted in 1890 during the Wyoming Constitutional Convention when only a handful of towns in Wyoming had any sewer system at all. This antiquated cap severely hinders cities’ and towns’ ability to fund improvements to municipal sewer systems that now serve a vast majority of the people who live and work in Wyoming.

“This requirement was established 130 years ago, and it needs to be updated to reflect every community’s needs in 2020,” President Dellinger said. “Amendment A is not a tax question or tax increase. It simply removes the debt limit requirement from the Wyoming Constitution and allows it to be set by the Legislature.”

The ballot measure is ‘revenue neutral’ and will not generate any new state spending or debt. It is essentially a ‘clean up’ measure intended to bring antiquated law up to date according to the release.

“Voting ‘yes’ for Amendment A will ensure that our municipalities’ sewer systems can continue to invest in much needed infrastructure and remain safe for Wyomingites,” WAM Legislative Committee Chairman and Cody Mayor Matt Hall said. “Do not leave the ballot blank, a skipped ballot counts as a ‘no’ vote towards this critical initiative.”

Made up primarily of city officials from all over the state, The Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) was incorporated in 1967 as a non-profit, non-partisan organization representing and serving Wyoming’s cities and towns but has been functioning as an organization under various forms since 1928.

For more information on this Constitutional Amendment, please contact Justin Schilling at the Wyoming Association of Municipalities at (307) 632-0398. You can also get information on this question at Sheridan City Hall.