GILLETTE, Wyo. — Campbell County has published the results of the Gillette, Wright, and Campbell County 1% Sales Tax Survey Results for 2022.
The tax collects one penny per dollar spent by both visitors and residents in Campbell County. The city of Gillette, the town of Wright and the Campbell County government share the funds.
Via Gillette’s UPS Store, Campbell County mailed the survey in the second week of August to the 19,940 people who were on the county’s list of registered voters on Aug. 3, 2022. Surveys were due Sept. 15, and county representatives collected the surveys from the boxes on Sept. 16. Mailed-in surveys were counted as late as Oct. 5. Several mailed-in surveys that did not have postage still made it to the Chamber to be
counted. In total, 2,741 survey responses had results that could be tabulated.
Ninety percent of the survey respondents live in Gillette, and about 87% of the survey respondents said they’ve lived in Campbell County for at least 11 years while less than 2% have lived in the county for no less than two years. Roughly 44% of survey respondents are retired, and about 38% are working full-time.
Many individuals voiced support or opposition to the tax in their survey response. At least 10 people complained about the survey question that asked respondents which gender they identify as.
Wright
About 27% of survey respondents ranked 12 projects the town of Wright proposed for use of the 1% sales tax funds over the next four years.
Roughly 70% said law enforcement/fire department/EMS services are a high priority while just about 11% said the shooting range is a high priority. Nearly 40% of people said the shooting range shouldn’t get any funding.
Wright’s highest priority should be law enforcement/fire department/EMS services, according to 46% of 420 respondents who completed that question. About 18% of people said street improvements should be Wright’s highest priority. Three people said the highest priority should be park improvements.
At least 10 people of the 67 people who suggested other items Wright should prioritize mentioned “library,” “public library” or similar.
City of Gillette
Ninety-six percent of survey respondents ranked nine projects the city of Gillette proposed for 1% sales tax funding.
Based on a weighted average, people, overall, said the highest priority is upgrading and maintaining city streets. Public safety was a very close second-highest priority, overall. Survey responses indicated that the lowest priority is beautification projects, followed by outside/social service agency funding, park improvements and sidewalk/bike path improvements.
The survey found that 35.26% of people said public safety should be the highest priority for Gillette and 31.85% said upgrading and maintaining city streets should be the city’s highest priority.
More than 50 of the 327 people who suggested other priorities for the City to spend 1% sales tax funds on in the next four years, mentioned the library.
County
For a county-wide spending priorities question, district support grants and human services/external services received the most “do not fund” votes while county road maintenance, emergency & safety, veterans services and public school security received the most “high priority” votes.
