Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wll the 5th penny find favor?

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 05:26:33 -0500

Harry can you do the same with this message-

Wll the 5th penny find favor?

By Eric R. Wright
Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

CHEYENNE – In addition to choosing their favorite candidates
Tuesday, voters in Laramie County will decide the fate of the local
fifth-penny sales tax.

If passed, 80 percent of the estimated $36 million generated by the
tax for the city over the next four years will go toward street
construction and maintenance. The majority of the county’s
estimated $18 million share will go to public works.

The remaining – about 20 and 30 percent, respectively – will be
divvied up between 14 departments, including public safety and
recreation.

The optional fifth-penny tax was authorized by State Statute 39-15-2
and was first approved in 1977. The voters must renew it every four
years.

Based on a 5 percent growth rate, the estimated total collection for
Laramie County will be $55.4 million. The towns of Albin, Burns and
Pine Bluffs will get about $83,000, $194,000 and $780,000, in that
order.

While the larger portions of the tax are used for projects the public
sees – like street repairs – the remainder is used for lesser-known,
but what officials say are just as important, projects.

For instance, city officials plan to spend $457,000 on an
800-megahertz emergency radio tower that will be used
immediately by the fire department and later possibly shared by
police and other emergency services.

Dale Pawling, assistant fire chief, said the department is using a
single-channel system now because the previous communications
provider – Nextel – discontinued service.

The new system would allow the department to use one channel
much more efficiently because a computer would identify the
different users and match them correctly.

Also, the system’s higher frequency allows for more clear and
dependable communications in an urban setting. That improved
efficiency translates to better public service, Pawling said.

“If you can’t communicate, you’re in trouble,” he added. “The
savings comes in the efficiency of the band width and the quality of
the transmission.”

The Cheyenne fire and police departments will get about $1 million
and $2 million, respectively for vehicles, communications
equipment, training and maintenance.

Six percent – about $1.1 million – of the county’s share will be used
for public safety.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department will use almost $1.4
million for recreation facilities, maintenance and equipment and for
maintenance of the Greater Cheyenne Greenway.

The Laramie County Recreation Board will get 1 percent of county’s
share.

Both the city and county plan to spend some of their fifth-penny
money on economic development.

About $1 million from the city will be spent on Cheyenne LEADS,
the economic development corporation for the city and county;
Laramie County Community College Center for Economic and
Business Data; and financial incentives for new businesses.

County officials budgeted about $275,000 for similar purposes.

Cheyenne LEADS President Randy Bruns said that when it comes
to economic development, the city and county won’t get something
for nothing.

“Companies don’t want to invest in a community that isn’t willing to
invest in itself,” he said. “Businesses don’t want to be where
everything has to be done on their shoulders.”

The fifth-penny money that county and city officials make available
to Cheyenne LEADS shows companies that this is a dynamic area,
he said.

And city officials plan to spend about $600,000 for human services,
including Comea shelter, Meals on Wheels, Cheyenne Interfaith
Hospitality Net and Cheyenne Community Clinic.

The county also uses part of its fifth-penny money for social
programs, Commissioner Jack Knudson said.

“We provide a pretty fair chunk of money for senior citizens
programs here and in Pine Bluffs,” he added.

Some of the high-cost items fifth-penny money will be used for
include more than $14 million for city street renovation and
maintenance, $2 million for Pershing Avenue reconstruction from
Pioneer to Dillon streets and $1.5 million for Windmill Road
reconstruction and improvement.

The Laramie County Library is the recipient of the second-largest
share of the county’s fifth penny – about $1.8 million.

“It’s very important to the community,” Knudson said about the tax.
“If (the public) were to vote it down, it would be pretty significant"

http://www.wyomingnews.com/more.asp?StoryID=5174

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/