WHEATLAND — Amid forums, meetings, public education materials, and general conversations, questions surrounding the upcoming Proposition #2 on the special election ballot continue to swirl.

“We as a small community, meaning Platte County as a whole, rely on specific tax for projects we just cannot budget for in other ways,” said Platte County Parks & Recreation board member, Josh Sandlian. “There are a lot of positive things we can do with just one penny,” he explained. “We may not think a penny goes very far, but it does. With the 6th Penny Special Purpose Tax, we can collect $250,000-270,000 per month. This is how projects like the Legacy Home, the fairground project,  the courthouse renovation, and municipality projects get paid off so early.” 

As earlier defined, at least 40% of the responsibility of the tax is borne by people from other states traveling through Platte County and eating, shopping, or spending the night here. It doesn’t matter where they are from; they will pay the same sales tax with the same results as those living in Platte County. “The community benefits in a variety of ways,” added Sandlian. “We all want to see Platte County prosper. Platte County would be so fortunate to collect at such a high rate from the 6th Penny.”

The proposition originating from the Platte County Parks & Recreation (PCPR) board was not based on a whim, according to board members Josh Sandlian and Heidi Adams, the board’s professional bookkeeper. “We didn’t just come up with this proposition overnight,” explained Sandlian. “We have been researching and studying the reality and feasibility of a multi-use facility for at least five years now, and have been setting funds aside for this purpose by our very careful and conservative budgeting.” 

For example, the proposed facility affords the PCPR the ability to bring in more commerce to the community by providing the capacity to host more frequent and larger tournaments each year. “Right now we are able to sponsor one basketball tournament per year,” said Sandlian. “With this facility and the addition of two full-court gymnasiums, we could potentially host one per month.” The tournaments bring in around $10,000 in revenue for PCPR; but also generate revenue for the communities at large. “Schools and families are traveling to these tournaments that typically last two days. They are eating in our communities and spending the night in our communities. We see 8-12 teams for each tournament that all have families that need food and overnight accommodations. The new facility could double that, not only for basketball, but volleyball, pickleball, and wrestling.” 

Conversely, the proposed recreation complex isn’t just about sports; there will be space available for private parties and/or classes. Organizations would also be able to use a concessions space for their own fundraisers, for example. There are no membership fees for use, as coming into the building to get in a couple miles of walking around the indoor gym, or using a weight room is not going to cost anything.

Heidi Adams of hla Bookkeeping, a facility committee member stated that there has been some talk about why the space is designed the way it is. “Parks & Rec wants to be in the education space. We are not looking to take away from any sports/fitness business that already exists. We are not in competition with that. What we want to do is to educate people so they can utilize those spaces correctly and safely. We can actually launch people into a bigger and better fitness experience by educating them about fitness and wellness,” said Adams. “A wellness program for the elderly, for example, lends to their longevity and overall quality of life.” Additionally, the spaciousness of the proposed facility allows more participants in a class such as Zumba or yoga. “If an instructor has a growing class and is running out of options, the new facility allows for this and future growth. Instructors can hold more frequent and larger classes whether it is about diet and exercise, or any number of other educational opportunities. This is about education space as well,” said Adams. “Community wellness is our ultimate goal.”

Questions about either a covered, year-round pool, or a new pool in general continue to arise, according to Sandlian. “We are currently addressing the issue of the pool overall,” explained Sandlian. 

“One of the reasons we have an option to buy on the land on the north end of town; which is five acres, is that it allows for future growth. Our committee is talking seriously about the life of the existing pool. At the moment, it is simply not feasible financially to operate a year-round pool, nor to build one. The initial costs for a pool project are astronomical and the budget currently does not exist; the committee realizes that Proposition #2 is already a big ask for the community, and we want to be respectful of our voters.” 

An option to expand the existing Parks & Rec facility was previously considered, as adjacent property seemed to make the most sense. The Town of Wheatland not only owns the offices, pool, and baseball complex, but also owns the property skirting those areas; the town was not interested in selling the land nor adding buildings to it. “We do want the public to keep in mind that we are managers of these programs and facilities. We do not own any of it. Of course we respect the fact that the city was not interested in selling or developing the area, so we had to look elsewhere.” 

While PCPR continues to partner with Platte County School District #1 for use of gym space, scheduling gets tricky with school sanctioned sports, Parks & Rec sports and activities, and a variety of traveling teams that all need adequate practice and game space. “School sanctioned activities obviously have the priority for use,” said Sandlian. “Parks & Rec has second priority and then the kids on traveling teams, who are generally pretty young, have third priority. Sometimes they are not getting in the gym(s) until 8:00pm. We’d love to have the space to accommodate each of these programs.” Added gym availability alleviates some calendar difficulties as well as providing reasonable time blocks for team use. It may not be realistic in the long term to rely on the limited gym space that the old Junior High currently offers. 

“We do have funds set aside for the new building. Because we have been seriously researching and planning this for a long time, we have built up funds for this purpose. We have already paid architects/designers out of that budget and the money set aside for the “option to buy” on the five acres is already there, as soon as we have election results.” 

“That is a line item in the budget that is already in place,” Adams added. “We have conducted a lot of research about costs for a building this size — janitorial, utilities, design — and we designed the facility with an energy efficient infrastructure in mind.” Based on budgeting, $9.2 million is being asked for the new build, with $800,000 required for contingencies and an additional $500,000 to secure a bond, which makes access to funds more immediate and  breaking ground speedier if the Prop passes, according to Sandlian. “The county could easily “lose” three-to-four million dollars if the special tax didn’t exist.”

“No one loves taxes,” Sandlian said. “But we do need to take care of ourselves; this particular tax “burden” is shared and does not land solely on our county residents. All of the Propositions on the ballot are so important,” he concluded, “not just #2. We would love to have people from other towns and states who visit here, whether it is for sports or tourism or any other reason, to be blown away by all the opportunities we offer in this county; that’s what keeps people coming back. Another reason why we chose the location we did. There are three hotels, a large gas station and numerous restaurants all within walking distance, with easy access in and out of town. All of those businesses will benefit from the improvements that the 6th Penny tax affords.” 

A mill levy is still allotted to PCPR; as they receive one mill per year which amounts to approximately $220,000. PCPR also receives funding from the Town of Wheatland to manage the pool and ballfields.

Proclamation questions are outlined succinctly in the official Proclamation of Bond Election on the Platte County Wyoming website.