Albany County community leaders took a sigh of relief Tuesday night when a sixth penny tax, also known as a special purpose excise tax, passed by a wide margin there.
The county has suffered from financial woes ever since the state imposed deep budget cuts that forced the county to lay off employees and make other hard decisions.
The tax will mean an infusion of $65 million into Laramie city streets and parks, Rock River’s water infrastructure, county roads and the airport. Laramie city councilor Phoebe Stoner said, in a state that’s often skeptical of taxes, this one got 85 percent of the vote because everyone involved worked hard to get the word out.
“All the major partners that are involved with the tax did a great job of coming together and making a plan for getting accurate information out to voters,” said Stoner.
People also supported renewing the tax, according to Stoner, because the infrastructure problems are very visible and affect people's everyday lives.