Hannah Shields
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne
(TNS)
CHEYENNE — The Laramie County Fire Authority needs $250,000 in emergency mineral royalty grant funding from the state to rebuild a fire station that burned down in mid-January. But whether it gets that money depends on the outcome of an emergency meeting of the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) next week.
LCFA Chief Jason Caughey waited nearly nine hours Thursday on an empty stomach — minus a handful of City Drug popcorn provided by the governor — to sway the state’s top five elected officials to approve the application. A staff member from the Office of State Lands and Investments told SLIB members a few documents were missing from LCFA’s application — but Caughey assured members the missing documents were available.
SLIB Chairman Gov. Mark Gordon proposed holding an emergency meeting next week to review the application once all the documents are collected. For Caughey, time is money.
The construction process for Fire Station 74 has already begun with the funds supplied by the insurance company, Caughey said. But insurance only covered 68% of total construction costs, and the county fire authority depleted its reserves to replace machinery lost in the fire.
If the state doesn’t provide the emergency funding, then LCFA will have to take out a loan, which means paying an additional 5.5% to 7% interest rate, Caughey said, and local taxpayers will be burdened with the cost.
Why now?
The Laramie County Planning Department utilizes an emergency building permit program in the event of a natural disaster or fire, Caughey said. If the facility is rebuilt within one year, “it doesn’t have to jump through all of the same hoops that a normal building process would.”
“By not being able to complete this project within one year, it’s going to cost us and the taxpayers a significant amount more money,” Caughey said. “To rebuild that same existing station today, I anticipate 25% more.”
In mid-January, Laramie County firefighters responded to a structure fire at one of their own stations, Fire Station 74 on Yellowstone Road. Three wildland firefighter trucks were lost, along with the station itself.
Caughey submitted an application for emergency mineral royalty grant (MRG) funding a week before the deadline.
The Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) approved the LCFA’s project application but found it did not constitute “emergency” MRG funds. The OSLI recommended deferring the fire authority’s application for regular MRG funds, which would be approved during the SLIB’s special meeting on June 20.
The Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s Office and Wyoming State Forestry Division also did not believe the application qualified for emergency funding from the state.
In a combined letter to SLIB members, these officials found the cost of this project “appears to fall within the funds available to the district to construct without additional financial assistance,” among other reasons to disqualify it for emergency funds.
But, according to Caughey, the LCFA is “pinching pennies.” Aside from their depleted reserves, the LCFA took a major hit from a new property tax cut bill that was recently passed by the Wyoming Legislature.
“This year, we’ve lost 25% of our revenue from property tax,” Caughey said, “which doesn’t sound significant, but it’s $250,000 out of our $2 million budget.”
Salaries eat up 80% of the fire authority’s total budget, he