CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The City of Cheyenne could be adding new positions for police officers and relying on additional revenue streams in the near future. That is the plan, at least.
On Wednesday, city staff held their first work session to go over the city’s 2025 fiscal year budget. Wednesday’s meeting, led by Mayor Patrick Collins, outlined what projects and departments the city intends to fund in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. The city previously reported that its total fiscal year 2025 budget is $147.6 million.
“Building a municipal budget is a challenging endeavor, and having the expertise of our treasurer makes the experience feel possible,” Collins said during the work session. “We must predict revenues that are more than a year away from being collected, expenses many of which we don’t have control over, and a state Legislature that decides a large portion of our revenues each year. We’ve done our best to predict each of these factors and have brought you a conservative, balanced budget.”
The following is a glimpse into what the city is proposing in the budget.
General fund
To begin the work session, Collins laid out some hard numbers. The city’s total general fund budget for fiscal year 2025 is currently set at $71,647,647. This represents an increase in $5,432,277 from the 2024 budget, Collins said, and an 8.2% increase in revenues.
“The huge revenue increases we have seen over the past four years, coupled with lower levels of spending versus what was budgeted, have resulted in significantly higher reserve levels,” said Robin Lockman, city treasurer.
Revenue
Although the city has continued to profit financially overall, several significant revenue streams are beginning to decline, Collins said. These include severance taxes, federal mineral royalties and gas taxes. Sales taxes are also projected to be flat compared to the current fiscal year.
To address revenue declining in some areas, the city has made plans to expand its revenue stream. Future opportunities include working with Horse Palace Swan Ranch, the Derby Club expansion on Ridge Road and other small opportunities.
Jobs
City leaders have factored in the cost of creating new jobs into the upcoming fiscal year budget, particularly in departments of high demand and additional work output. For instance, the city is requesting two additional police officer positions.
“I would not be budgeting for new officers if they were not able to hire them,” Collins said.
The mayor said the city is interested in adding a position to the Traffic Operations Department. This position would be responsible for managing an upcoming neighborhood speed ordinance and helping to manage roads.
Several positions in the Community & Recreation Events Department have been proposed. The proposed budget includes three new positions: an office manager, events tech and aquatics maintenance tech. Two part-time maintenance tech jobs that currently exist would also be merged into one full-time position.
Lastly, the budget includes a new position in the Engineering Department.
“The lack of staff and the fact that our consulting groups in town are so busy has led to the need for another staff engineer,” Collins said. “I don’t see a slowdown in the future, and that’s why we need to beef up our engineering capabilities.”
Lockman has proposed changing how the city pays non-exempt employees. Instead of compensating these staff members the same amount each month, Lockman said the city must shift to paying non-exempt employees by the hour “to comply with our federal grant requirements, as well as employment laws.”
To access the city’s entire proposed budget, click here.
