OPINION
Sheridan County’s latest warrant packet offers an awkward illustration of the personal responsibility Commissioner Christi Haswell recently urged Wyoming taxpayers to practice. While an op-ed bearing her signature warned homeowners against expecting others to finance their local services, the assessor’s office submitted a $239.68 charge for meals at FireRock Steakhouse in Casper.
The charge appears under the assessor’s office in the November 2 commissioners’ staff packet. The reported orders included two bacon-wrapped filet mignons at $41.50 apiece —a choice that deserves scrutiny from an office whose work puts it face to face with the homeowners seeking relief from property taxes.
Haswell was one of seven commissioners who signed the October 20 column, “Local control comes with local responsibility,” opposing Proposition 1. They acknowledged that property tax increases had strained household budgets, but warned that further reductions could mean delayed road repairs, fewer emergency responders and diminished services. Along the way, they criticized Wyoming Citizens for “enjoying the benefits while someone else picks up the tab,” and then they cautioned, "We should be careful about adopting [that] ourselves."
It was an unfortunate choice of words for a commissioner whose own county assessor’s office spending now includes this dinner. At FireRock, the Sheridan assessors ordered the benefits bacon-wrapped. Sheridan County taxpayers got the tab.
FireRock is an upscale Casper steakhouse. Its bacon-wrapped Filet Mignon is $41.50. Several premium steaks cost more, but considerably cheaper meals are available: a $12.95 burger, $18.95 chicken-fried steak or $20.95 herb-roasted chicken, or an eight-ounce sirloin for $21.95. Nobody had to go hungry to exercise better judgment. There are lots of Sheridan taxpayers who’d love a filet but opt for the sirloin because they have other responsibilities—like taxes.
And of all county offices, the assessor’s should need the least instruction on that subject. Its daily work centers on the property values behind tax bills. Often, they have to explain that even though a taxpayer can’t afford the bill, it still has to be paid. Its staff deals with homeowners questioning assessments and seeking exemptions. The office has helped publicize those exemptions because residents need to know how to reduce what they owe.
These are people well positioned to understand both the county’s tax base and the strain property taxes can place on household finances.
For a homeowner living on a fixed income, an assessment showing a more valuable house does not produce a larger retirement check. The tax bill still has to come out of money needed for groceries, heating and other necessities. An expensive steakhouse dinner may be precisely the sort of thing that household has stopped buying.
If the financial picture is as dire as officials opposing Proposition 1 describe, why isn’t that urgency showing up in the spending decisions of an office that understands the numbers?
A $239.68 dinner does not disprove a revenue projection. Passing up filet mignon will not finance a sheriff’s department. But officials asking residents to take ominous warnings of service cuts seriously ought to demonstrate that restraint begins at the courthouse.
Haswell’s column also called for government to explain its spending and look for ways to operate more efficiently. Here is an uncomplicated place to start.
Explain the FireRock bill.
County employees on legitimate business have to eat. But the taxpayers footing the bill should be able to expect county employees to distinguish between eating dinner and indulging themselves. Even if a meal falls within an allowable limit, permission to spend is not an obligation to spend it.
Before lecturing homeowners about carrying their share, Sheridan County officials should show how carefully they carry the public’s money. If local service cuts in Sheridan are the most important concern of commissioners, they should first look at what their employees are having for dinner.
The message is clear. Government will enjoy the filets while taxpayers pick up the tab.