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 and Town of Glenrock have 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.
Streets, bridges, sidewalks and alleys across Converse County are the single largest use of the penny. In Douglas, the 1% tax funds full rebuilds, resurfacing, slurry seal, chip seal, alley reconstruction, new curb, gutter and sidewalk work, and the Richards Street bridge. Glenrock applies its share to road improvements, overlays, drainage repair and alley work. Roads rebuilt on schedule cost far less than roads rebuilt after they fail, and the cost is shared by everyone who spends money in the county.
The 1% tax supports both the people who make our communities stronger and the places that bring them together. From 2024-2027, Aid to Others has funded over $2,266,682 in community grants to 21 local nonprofits, supporting food pantries, youth programs, senior services, behavioral health, and other essential community needs. The same penny is helping complete Douglas' new community center, a year-round gathering place scheduled to open this fall, without relying on new property taxes. Across the county, 1% tax revenues are also helping fund community amenities such as Glenrock Town Square, an amazing asset that includes a concert amphitheater, splash park, playgrounds, and ice skating rink in the winter.
See all 21 grant recipientsParks, pools, pathways, and community beautification in Douglas and Glenrock make up another significant share of the 1% tax. In Douglas, 1% funds have supported renovation of the city pool, replacement of the Washington Park shelter, upgrades to the Bartling Park tennis courts and lighting, the addition of disc golf, continued maintenance of the Railroad Museum & Visitor Center, and downtown landscaping and right-of-way tree improvements. Glenrock has used 1% funds to help build walking paths and trail connections that link the community to parks, the river, and the downtown area.
Wyoming law allows voters to approve an optional 1% general-purpose sales and use tax. On the ballot, it appears as the 1% tax and must be renewed by voters. Every election determines whether this local funding source continues. A "yes" vote keeps the existing tax in place; it does not increase the sales tax rate or create a new tax.
Ballot Proposition No. 2
"Shall the County of Converse, State of Wyoming, be authorized to impose a general-purpose tax of one percent (1%) upon retail sales of tangible personal property, admission, and services made within the county, for general revenue purposes, for a period of four (4) years?"
Vote YES
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. The cost is shared so 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.
Revenue from the 1% tax is dedicated to major capital work that cannot realistically be funded through the annual operating budgets of the City of Douglas and the Town of Glenrock and Rolling Hills. It pays for long-term investments such as street reconstruction, water infrastructure, parks, public facilities, and other community improvements while also providing the local match required to compete for many state and federal grants.
Aside from roads and water infrastructure, two of the most impactful commitments of the 1% tax are Aid to Others grant funding and Community Engagement Spaces. 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 City of Douglas's own project list plus input from the Town of Glenrock and the Converse County Clerk. The City of Douglas publishes its record publicly so residents can see exactly where the penny before they decide where it goes next.
The optional 1% sales tax is collected throughout Converse County on taxable purchases and returned by the State of Wyoming to Converse County and its incorporated municipalities. That means Douglas, Glenrock, Rolling Hills, Lost Springs and Converse County government all share the same penny.
State law requires those revenues to be distributed based on population. Douglas receives the largest municipal share because it serves the largest population, while Glenrock, Rolling Hills, Lost Springs, and Converse County each receive their own allocated share. No community can increase its share through local decisions; the distribution formula is established by state statute.
Each Converse County entity can only spend its allocation on projects within its community. If the tax expires, that dedicated funding source disappears, taking with it the primary source of funding for many infrastructure and community improvement projects.
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.
The figures below are City of Douglas projects and expenditures. Glenrock also receives its share of the 1% tax, but its detailed project breakdown is not available for this display.
$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
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.
Street ReconstructionFull rebuilds, resurfacing, slurry seal, chip seal and curb, gutter and drainage work, a maintenance cycle that keeps good streets from failing and rebuilds the ones that already have. Paid for with 1% tax dollars instead of property taxes.
RecreationPool renovations plus lobby, shower and storage improvements, finishing in FY2025-26 with 1% tax dollars.
Glenrock Town SquarePartially funded with 1% tax dollars, Glenrock's Town Square centers on a concert amphitheater and community building with an upper deck, meeting room and year-round restrooms. Around it sit a splash park, two large playgrounds, a pair of gas fire pits and a regulation basketball court that becomes an ice-skating rink in winter, proof the penny works county-wide, not just in Douglas.
ParksReplacement shelters and pathway improvements that keep our parks usable for reunions, ball games and city events, plus upgrades at Bartling Park including lights, a new water well and a planned tennis court renovation.
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.
If the 1% tax is not renewed, the work does not disappear; the money for it does. Communities are left choosing between letting infrastructure decline, delaying projects, reducing the scope of improvements, and finding the dollars somewhere else, which means shifting costs onto property taxes, utility rates, or future budgets.
Annual street maintenance, alley reconstruction, and major roadway projects would likely be delayed. Postponing maintenance increases long-term costs because minor repairs eventually become full reconstruction projects.
Water lines, wells, and sewer improvements would compete for increasingly limited funding, raising the risk of emergency repairs that are often far more expensive than planned replacements.
Investments into parks, pathways, recreational facilities, shelters, courts, and other public amenities are often among the first projects postponed when dedicated capital funding disappears.
Many state and federal infrastructure grants require local matching funds. Without the 1% tax providing that local investment, Douglas, Glenrock, and Rolling Hills may be unable to leverage outside funding, meaning fewer state and federal dollars are brought back into the community.
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