Lack of oversight, late and incomplete reporting plague Fremont County sales tax grants

When Fremont County voters in Wyoming were asked to pass an initiative in 2020 to dedicate ½ percent of the sales tax collected in the county to economic development, they were told it was essential to job, revenue and tax growth.

They were advised that every dollar invested would return $3.91; 1,059 new jobs would be created by 2028; $30.5 million would be generated in labor income; and $4 million in state and local tax revenue collected. That’s a big deal in this small hamlet of about 40,000 people. 

A majority of voters agreed that year, and starting March 1, 2021, Fremont County businesses and organizations became eligible for grants to expand or start initiatives aimed at the above goals.

Citizen boards were tasked in Lander, Riverton, and at the county level to review applications and select the ones they deemed most likely to succeed. The respective city councils in Lander and Riverton and County Commissioners made final approvals, which amounted to almost $4.5 million at the county level from the program’s inception to its close in April, following voters’ rejection of continuing the program at the ballot box in November. Mia Harris, Administrative Services Director for Riverton, said the city had made grants totaling $3.3 million to 27 businesses and organizations. Lander distributed $1.2 million to 43 businesses from 2021-2024.

Based on how the money was spent, voters made the right decision in not reauthorizing the tax.

So, what happened to the county money? Did businesses follow through on their plans? Did they hire the employees promised in their applications or generate the revenue they anticipated?

No one knows.

Why? Brett Berg, Chairman of MOVE, the volunteer citizen group tasked with recommending which businesses should have received awards and with monitoring their progress at the county level, told County Commissioners that he doesn’t have the time. He said during a Feb. 4 County Commission meeting that he had done a few on-site visits, but “I can’t commit five or six hours three days a week to doing this.” He added, “I am doing this as a volunteer and the rest of the committee as well.” He suggested that the County Commissioners consider hiring a paid auditor so that someone could verify what businesses were reporting. He added, “I just have concerns that the grants awarded have been utilized the way they said they would be.”

Becky Enos, the administrative secretary for County Commissioners, said they have not hired an auditor to review the grants.

A review of the 53 grants totaling $4.5 million awarded at the county level shows many have not fulfilled their contract to use grant money within a year, used it for projects in their applications, documented that they still have money if not disbursed, and followed through on required reporting and other regulations.

Pushroot Brewing  Co. in Lander, for example, received $125,000 from MOVE in 2023 after already receiving $75,000 from Lander’s ½ percent program in 2022. MOVE rules state that businesses that have received ½  percent funding “from any source, are ineligible to apply for future funding.” Lander LLC also double-dipped. Its motel and brewery projects received a total of $255,000 from the county on June 7, 2022, and June 20, 2023, as well as a $67,500 grant from Lander LIFT on June 13, 2023.

And then there are those who used the money and then folded.

Some of the most egregious losses include $325,000 given to the Lander Housing Authority on April 23, 2024, for the proposed Table Mountain Living Community. Grants were not supposed to be used to pay  back debt, but the money was used as a “reimbursement of design costs already expended.” The bigger issue is that the Housing Authority had “no legal authority” to launch the project, now defunct, in the first place. Where was the oversight?

And then there is the $125,000 awarded on February 13, 2024, to Warm Valley Lodge Assisted Living Center in Dubois. It closed permanently in September 2024. It asked the county to expedite funding because of payroll concerns. Did that not raise a red flag with County Commissioners? Did no one look at its financials?

The county has thus far tried to claw back money—a provision allowed in the law – from only one business: SDT Property Management, owned by Doug and Sophal Thompson, for fraud and breach of contract. Given the late reporting and lack of payment receipts (as required) of multiple businesses, it was surprising to see only one singled out for legal action.

A review of program documents shows many businesses didn’t follow through in the required timeline, changed how they wanted to use grants and haven’t fulfilled employment promises. Still, other grants might raise eyebrows for the type of product funded and the fact that the businesses could have easily obtained bank loans, which would have spurred economic growth in the county.

Benessere Clinic in Lander and Riverton was awarded a total of $56,000 in 2022 and 2023 for wellness technology. According to its application, $20,000 would be used to buy an Alma Duo, an “in-office treatment that uses gold standard shock wave technology to stimulate blood flow and restore natural sexual performance for men and women… Also, the Alma Duo is a cutting edge machine to address male and female sexual health and it currently would be one of two in the state of Wyoming.”  It expected many clients to travel for a package of six treatments from around the state, meaning the main beneficiaries of enhanced sexual wellness would likely not be in Fremont County. A visit to Benessere’s website does not show Alma Duo treatments available.

Did County Commissioners even review the grant application?

Lander Medical Clinic and Western Family Care, which have been doing business in the community for over 70 years, received $100,000 from county taxpayers for aesthetics technology. Those same taxpayers each pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, annually for care through their offices. Did County Commissioners ask them what percentage of county residents could afford their proposed treatments and why they couldn’t finance the purchase entirely through a loan?

As Chris Rodkey of Wind River Glass in Dubois testified at the February 4th County Commissioner meeting, the awards “smack of unfair advantage.” He added, “We’re funding new product development. It struck me as odd, to be kind, that taxpayers didn’t get a royalty back on every one of those items developed. If I invest in something, I want to get a piece of the action.”

He’s right. Picking winners and losers should not be the realm of the government, in addition to the fact that profit maximization for taxpayers was not part of the law. Given that Fremont County government had no idea if it was picking a winner or a loser because virtually no one paid attention to the financials of particular businesses or followed up to verify whether their reporting was accurate, makes the program especially egregious. So does the fact that County Commissioners were aware of the problems with the program and did not hire an auditor.

The other issue with the program is the total lack of transparency. None of the grant applications or follow-up reporting is available online or searchable. Reviewing the material required a Public Records Act request – one more reason for state legislators to strengthen the state’s law and make more documents available online. In a situation like this particular one, citizen supervision is even more imperative given the lack of oversight.

State Auditor Kristi Racines should step in to review how funds were used. Alternatively, state legislators could require special taxing districts to prepare a yearly report on how the funds were used and the outcome for them.

Residents rightly voted to end the program during last November’s elections. But it is outrageous that the County Commissioners and those tasked with overseeing the programs cared so little about millions of taxpayer dollars at a time of economic uncertainty and when all county agencies have been asked to submit budgets with significant cuts.

May Fremont County’s mistakes be a lesson to counties throughout the rest of Wyoming to quash campaigns to raise economic development funds in the same manner. For the sake of fairness and ultimately, economic success, governments should create tax and regulatory environments that allow businesses to thrive and compete on an even playing field.