For decades the 1% tax has been the backbone of Converse County. It is more than a tax, it is the street you drive to work, the water in your tap, the pool your kids swim in, and the parks where they play.
Every 1% tax dollar is committed to capital projects and maintenance inside Converse County. Here is how the City of Douglas has grouped that work.
Raw water line replacement, the Bartling water well, irrigation audits and end-of-line meter installation. These are the unglamorous projects that keep safe water flowing to every household in Converse County, and they are funded by the 1% tax rather than by your utility bill or property tax.
The single largest use of the penny. Adams Street, N 2nd, N 4th, S 4th, Teton Way, Olds Road, the Richards Street bridge, alley reconstruction, slurry seal and new curb, gutter and sidewalk. Roads rebuilt on schedule cost far less than roads rebuilt after they fail.
The new community center, opening this fall, is a year-round gathering place built with 1% tax dollars instead of new property taxes. The same penny funds Aid to Others community grants: $2,266,682 to 21 local nonprofits from July 2024 through June 2027, supporting food pantries, youth programs, seniors and behavioral health.
See all 21 grant recipientsThe city pool renovation, Washington Park shelters, Bartling Park tennis courts, disc golf, pathway benches and concrete, railroad museum and interpretive center upkeep, downtown landscaping and the right-of-way tree program.
Wyoming law lets voters approve an optional 1% general purpose sales and use tax on top of the state rate. On the ballot it appears as the 1% tax. It is not permanent: it must be put back on the ballot and re-approved by the voters. A yes vote does not create a new tax or raise your rate, it keeps the penny that is already in place working here at home.
Because it is a sales tax, it is paid a penny at a time by everyone who buys something in the county: residents, yes, but also travelers off I-25, energy and construction crews, fair and rodeo visitors, and anyone passing through who uses our streets, water and parks while they are here. Property owners do not carry the cost alone.
Wyoming exempts food for home consumption and prescription drugs from sales tax, so the 1% tax does not touch your grocery run or your pharmacy counter. On a $20 purchase, the penny costs you twenty cents.
The revenue funds capital work the general fund cannot absorb: street and bridge reconstruction, water line and well replacement, sidewalk and drainage projects, pool and park renovations, and downtown beautification. It also gives the City local matching dollars, many state and federal infrastructure grants require the community to bring its own money to the table before the outside money arrives.
The two largest commitments going forward are Community Engagement Spaces and Aid to Others. Community Engagement Spaces cover the new community center and the public gathering places that go with it, a year-round home for meetings, recreation and community events built with 1% tax dollars rather than new property taxes. Aid to Others is nonprofit grant funding, $2,266,682 to 21 local organizations from July 2024 through June 2027, supporting food pantries, youth programs, seniors, animal welfare and behavioral health.
Every project on this site is drawn from the City of Douglas's own 1% tax project list. The City publishes that record publicly so residents can see exactly where the penny went before they decide where it goes next.
Wyoming's optional 1% general purpose sales and use tax is levied county-wide. It is collected on taxable sales made anywhere in Converse County, remitted to the Wyoming Department of Revenue, and then sent back to the county and the towns inside it. That means Douglas, Glenrock, Rolling Hills, Lost Springs and Converse County government all share the same penny.
Under Wyoming law (W.S. 39-15-111), the money that comes back is divided between the county and its incorporated municipalities based on population. Douglas is the largest community in Converse County, so the City receives the largest municipal share, and that share is what pays for the projects listed on this site. Because the split is set by statute and population, no single city can vote itself a bigger piece.
The practical takeaway: the penny is collected across the whole county, but the portion Douglas receives can only be spent on Douglas. If the 1% tax is not renewed, the City does not lose a line item, it loses the entire capital funding stream that rebuilds streets, water lines, the pool, parks and community spaces.
The Wyoming Department of Revenue reports sales and use tax by business sector. In a recent reporting month, Converse County's total sales and use tax distribution was roughly $7.2 million, and it was driven overwhelmingly by industry and travel spending, not by household grocery bills.
Mining, oil & gas
Energy production and the crews and equipment it brings
$2,573,357
Retail trade
Stores and dealerships, including travelers off I-25
$2,483,093
Utilities
Power, gas and related service providers
$393,906
Wholesale trade
Supply, equipment and materials distribution
$341,830
Restaurants, bars & entertainment
Fair, rodeo and event traffic
$210,833
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, monthly sales and use tax distribution by major business class, Converse County. Figures are for a single reporting month and include state and local shares. Groceries for home consumption and prescription drugs are exempt from Wyoming sales tax.
From the new community center to nonprofit grant funding, the penny shows up all over Converse County. Here is what it has funded, when, and how much.
$68,040,089
$8,370,742
Completed
$30,985,094
In progress
$28,684,253
Proposed
Streets and community engagement spaces take the largest share, rebuilt roads, bridges and the new community center. The rest spreads across water and sewer lines, sidewalks, the pool, parks, public safety, equipment and community grants to 21 local nonprofits.
These are capital projects: one-time investments the city cannot cover out of day-to-day operating revenue. Without the 1% tax, they either wait or move onto the property tax rolls.
See the year-by-year breakdown
Community CenterThe community center is nearing completion this fall, a year-round gathering place for meetings, recreation and community events, built with 1% tax dollars instead of new property taxes.
StreetsA full rebuild rather than another patch, new surface, curb, gutter and drainage designed to last decades.
RecreationPool renovations plus lobby, shower and storage improvements, finishing in FY2025-26 with 1% tax dollars.
Aid to OthersA share of the penny goes to Aid to Others grant funding, supporting the local nonprofits that feed families, serve seniors, help youth and fill gaps the city cannot cover alone.
ParksReplacement shelters and pathway improvements that keep our parks usable for reunions, ball games and city events.
If the 1% tax is not renewed, the work does not disappear, the money for it does. The City is left choosing between letting infrastructure decline and finding the dollars somewhere else, which means the general fund, utility rates or property taxes.
Reconstruction of streets like N 4th and Pine, alley rebuilds and annual slurry seal are funded by the penny. Without it, repairs are deferred, and deferred asphalt turns into full reconstruction at several times the cost.
Raw water line replacement, the Bartling well and irrigation repairs are 1% tax projects. Delaying them raises the odds of a break and the pressure to raise utility rates instead.
Pool renovations, shelters, tennis courts, benches, and pathway concrete are quality-of-life investments that disappear first when funding tightens.
Local funds are what unlock state and federal grant programs. No local match, no outside investment in Converse County infrastructure.
No. The 1% tax is an existing sales tax that Converse County voters have approved before. Wyoming's optional sales tax has to go back to the voters periodically, so a yes vote continues what is already in place rather than adding anything new.
One cent per dollar of taxable purchases. Twenty cents on a $20 purchase; one dollar on a $100 purchase. Groceries for home consumption and prescription medications are exempt from Wyoming sales tax, so daily essentials are not affected.
Everyone who buys taxable goods and services in the community, including travelers on I-25, work crews, fair and rodeo visitors, and shoppers from outside city limits. Sales tax spreads the cost of infrastructure to the people who use it, not just to local property owners.
The City has used 1% tax revenue for capital projects and maintenance: streets and alleys, bridges, sidewalks, water and sewer systems, parks and pathways, the city pool, and downtown beautification. The full project list is published on this site and by the City.
The City maintains and publishes a project-by-project 1% tax project list and reports on it through the annual budget and audit process. Every project shown here comes from that record.
It removes 1% from sales tax collections, but it does not reduce the community's infrastructure needs. Those costs shift to other funding sources or the projects are deferred until they cost more.
A local political action committee of Douglas residents who want neighbors to have the facts before they vote. The information here is drawn from the City of Douglas project records; the opinions are ours.
Look for the 1% general purpose sales tax question on your ballot. Read it carefully, the question asks whether to continue the 1% tax, so a yes vote keeps the existing penny in place for Converse County projects.
Request a yard sign, share this page, or volunteer a couple of hours before the vote. Word of mouth in Converse County does more than any advertisement.
Questions? Email info@douglaspenny.org