A tie vote by the Jackson Town Council on Monday has temporarily killed a proposal to ask voters to approve an additional cent of sales tax, but the issue may resurface in coming weeks.

During a joint meeting between the town council and the Teton County Board of Commissioners, county leaders voted 3-1 to direct staff to prepare language for the November general election ballot asking voters if they support levying an additional cent of sales tax. Currently, most of Teton County levies 6 cents of sales tax on every dollar.

Town leaders split on the motion 2-2, with councilors Bob Lenz and Abe Tabatabai voting against and Mayor Mark Barron and Councilor Melissa Turley voting in favor. Councilor Mark Obringer was at the meeting for part of the discussion but had to leave before the vote.

According to state statute, putting the measure on the ballot requires consent of the county commission and at least two-thirds of all the towns in a county. Since Teton County only has one town, that means the council must approve the idea as well.

The county clerk must get ballot language by Aug. 25 for the proposition to be decided in the November election.

In 2007, the Wyoming Legislature authorized counties and towns to impose the additional 1-cent tax. Because it is a new tax and not a continuation of an existing tax, voters must approve the proposition.

Officials have said the new tax could bring in about $10.5 million per year.

Sitting elected officials want to use the revenue to pay for free START bus service, increased fire and emergency medical services, increasing the affordable housing stock and to address a backlog of capital projects. They haven’t figured out how to earmark the funds so they are devoted to the same sources in the future. The projects are estimated to cost between $40 million and $60 million.

In October, the boards decided to wait to send the new tax to the ballot until after the state Legislature prepared its budget. They also wanted more information about how the tax would impact residents and how the revenues would be spent.

Those two questions remained at the forefront of the debate Monday afternoon.

Those opposed to the measure said they thought times were tough enough for taxpayers in the county without adding additional sales tax. Property values, and therefore taxes, increased 26 percent on average in Teton County, and gas and food costs have inflated.

“I have had a lot of people come to me personally and ask for relief on taxes, and not just on property taxes,” county Commissioner Leland Christensen said Monday. “It’s not just the elderly on a fixed income. It’s coming from a wide range of sources.”

Town Councilor Bob Lenz agreed.

“This is not the year to impose new taxes,” he said in an interview after the meeting. “We had an increase in valuation in the county that is considerable,  and even though [the county] lowered the mil rate, psychologically there is a thing about taxes.”

In addition to property tax, shoppers in Teton County are charged 6 cents on every dollar spent on goods other than groceries and exempt items such as ski lift tickets and newspapers. The first, state-mandated 4 cents of tax generates about $13 million for local coffers, after the state takes a cut. The fifth cent, an optional tax voters approved years ago for general fund expenditures, is projected to generate $10.5 million this fiscal year. The sixth cent also is voter-imposed and funds projects approved during the specific purpose excise tax election, held every few years.

In Teton Village, the base sales tax is 7 cents for every dollar. Voters approved an additional cent earlier this year to fund a parking lot project to bring that total to 8 cents.

Christensen pointed out that the state dropped the sales tax on food two years ago and people appreciated the extra money. Despite the loss in revenue, local government balanced its budgets.

“I appreciate all the good things this money could do, but I think back a year, two years ago with food tax and how excited the public was to have that relief,” he said. “While we had to tighten up in some areas, the government didn’t shut down.”

Opponents also said there were other ways to balance future budgets.

“I think it’s a cheap, easy way out,” Councilor Abe Tabatabai of enacting the seventh cent. “Every time we need revenue it goes in the form of taxation. I believe there other ways to take care of most of our revenue shortfalls. I believe there is fat to be trimmed and belts to be tightened rather than take, take, take.”

Those councilors and commissioners who favored putting the measure on the ballot said they were not endorsing the tax but felt voters should be given the option to choose if they wanted to pay for a high-level of service from their government.

“The question is do you think the electorate is smart enough to make their own decision,” Mayor Mark Barron said. “I think our electorate is smart enough to know if they can deal with one cent more or can’t deal with one cent more.”

Commissioner Hank Phibbs agreed.

“This is the people’s right to choose,” he said. “If we don’t give them the opportunity, we are taking away the rights of the voters.”

Supporters also said the additional sales tax was a good way to garner additional revenue primarily from tourists, rather than increasing property taxes that hit only valley residents.

“We are blessed with the tourism that comes through the community,” Barron said. “For town, about 55 percent of the money for the general fund is left behind by tourists,” Barron said. “To use that money for START that is generally used by tourists makes all kinds of sense.”

Turley, supported drafting the ballot language but said she was unsure of the timing.

“I agree with my colleagues that I would like to put this to the voters but I would like to have further conversations whether this fall right time to do it,” she said. “We have a lot going on right now, and I’m not sure this fall is the time.”

Even supporters were undecided on key issues such as whether they should specify how the two bodies plan to use the money or if the extra revenue should go into the general fund for any use. Most supported limiting use of the funds to START, Jackson Hole Fire/EMS, affordable housing and capital improvements, but town and county officials said such a commitment would not be binding unless it was done as a specific purpose excise tax.

“This board could say we are going to use it for this purpose,” Gingery said, “but when you get new commissioners and town councilors, they don’t have to follow what you want.”

County Administrator Jan Friedlund said a SPET measure wouldn’t be appropriate because leaders wanted to use the money for operating expenses, not capital projects that have quantifiable budget needs.

Though the vote, especially combined with Turley’s uncertainty, would seem to kill the tax proposal, there are a number of ways it could come back before the boards for another vote.

One of the two councilors who voted against it could ask for reconsideration at the next town council meeting. Lenz said he was not planning on asking for reconsideration. Tabatabai, who said he was already approached by one elected official to reconsider, said he was not inclined make such a request but would not explicitly rule it out.

Obringer said he would likely talk to Lenz and Tabatabai about their reasons for voting against the proposal but had no plans to ask for a revote. 

“I am not asking them to reconsider a vote,” he said in an interview after the meeting. “I am asking them to share with me why they voted the way they did and if they want to reconsider after talking to me then they can.”

Even with reconsideration, it is not certain Obringer would vote in favor of putting it on the ballot. He said he favors defining how the money would be spent, though he believes allowing voters to cast a ballot could be a crucial litmus test for issues like expansion of START and Jackson Hole Fire/EMS funding.

“I see it as a terrific opportunity to test the public to allow them to vote for something so you can actually measure support,” he said. “When people support something they are willing to pay for it.”

Apart from formal reconsideration, a councilor could ask that the question of whether to put the issue on the ballot be put on the agenda for regular or special meeting. The motion that failed was simply to instruct staff to draft ballot language, the issue of whether to put it on the ballot was never addressed and could be revisited. Time is running out for such a decision. The deadline for submitting ballot language to Teton County Clerk Sherry Daigle is 19 days away.