Hot Springs County plans to drop its membership in the Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA) because it says the group is a bunch of “socialists” pushing an agenda.
Commissioner Bob Aguiar said the group’s opposition to tax cuts was the last straw.
If Hot Springs County were to pull out of the WCCA, it would be the only one of Wyoming’s 23 counties to not be a member.
Jerimiah Rieman, the WCCA executive director, frequently works with Wyoming’s congressional delegation and federal agency staff on various issues like the controversial Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Plans last year.
About the potential for Hot Springs County to break from the organization, Rieman told Cowboy State Daily that, “Until someone from Hot Springs County contacts me, I have no comment.”
What Is The WCCA?
The purpose of the WCCA, which has existed since 1976, is to provide a venue for cooperation, exchange of ideas, and state representation for county governments in Wyoming.
The WCCA lobbies at the Legislature, other state agencies, and federal agencies on local government issues on behalf of the counties. Work of the WCCA is coordinated by its executive director.
Laramie County Commissioner Gunnar Malm, the WCCA treasurer, said having a concerted voice representing all the counties is valuable not only at the state level, but also federal.
He also pointed out how being a county commissioner is a part-time job that doesn’t pay enough for most people to survive on as a sole income, so having the WCCA helps them significantly in lobbying with state legislators and members of Congress members about local interests.
“It allows us to leverage the collective group for our communities and speak as a unified group,” Malm said. “It’s not only for the counties, but pays dividends for every citizen.”
Has The Votes
Aguiar said he and fellow commissioner Paul Galovich, who make up a majority on the three-member commission, plan to vote to pull Hot Springs’ membership from the group at the beginning of June, which would be a rare break from the WCCA.
Aguiar believes the WCCA operates on the premise that its sole purpose is to get more money for county governments.
“They’re basically socialists who would like to see more government, more funding of government,” he said. “All they want to do is fund government on the backs of our taxpayers and we just can’t do that.”
In contrast, Aguiar believes he was elected to give his taxpayers relief.
Hot Springs is one of the poorer counties in the state and boasts one of the largest elderly populations as well by percentage.
A Watchdog
Malm said it’s important to have a watchdog like WCCA because any county government growth is an extension of action by the state Legislature, often putting new responsibilities on local counties without giving them any extra money to handle them.
Additionally, equating a desire to grow government services and socialism is not an apples-to-apples comparison, Malm said.
Aguiar argues against this, saying his county can get the services it needs with or without membership in the WCCA.
“If you think we need funding, we will advocate for it ourselves rather than have an organization that’s costing the taxpayers additional money,” he said.
Property Taxes
The basis of Aguiar’s claim stems from lobbying he said he saw Rieman do for commissioners at the WCCA legislative conference this winter against property tax cuts and other measures in Wyoming.
He said the conference was nothing more than an “indoctrination training” on how to grow government.
“I was a little disappointed in the way that organization functions,” Aguiar said.
Aguiar is the husband of Cheryl Aguiar, one of the leaders of an effort to put a 50% property tax cut on the 2026 ballot. She’s also involved with an ongoing controversy between the Wyoming Republican Party and certain members of the Hot Springs County GOP.
During the WCCA’s legislative conference this past winter, Aguiar claims Rieman was purposely trying to steer commissioners to make certain votes on bills to reach the 70% threshold required for the organization to take a public stance on legislation.
If they fail to receive 70%, the counties then submit one vote apiece for a majority vote.
“He kept badgering the group until he got his 70%,” Aguiar said.
Malm said this isn’t true and Rieman was simply laying out the facts for counties to make their decisions.
Although cutting Hot Springs County’s less than $10,000 in annual dues to the WCCA likely won’t severely hamper the organization, it may inspire other counties to take a similar action, Aguiar said.
“I think if we drop out, I think more will follow,” he said. “I think there’ll be more counties dropping out.”
Aguiar also finds it inappropriate that Hot Springs and the other 22 counties were asked before he joined his board to pay an additional fee of around $11,500 to help pay for a mortgage on the WCCA’s building in Cheyenne.
These fees, which varied based on a county’s size, were approved by commissioners around the state.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate at all,” Aguiar said. “That’s a private organization and for the counties to take taxpayer dollars to pay off their building?”
Cuts Looming
Aguiar, who fully supported the 25% property tax cut passed during this year’s Legislature, expects his county will have to make some cuts in its upcoming budget, which is another reason he sees for justifying dropping WCCA membership.
“We’re affecting ourselves to have to run on a leaner budget for the next two to three years, and so I think we should set the example as commissioners, this is an organization that we do not need to be a member of,” Aguiar said. “How can we expect people to reduce spending and then throw money at an organization that’s unnecessary for our county?”
Every other county in Wyoming will be in the same position this budget season, with some counties like Weston expecting as large as a 10% cut to their total revenue due to the tax cut. President Donald Trump’s DOGE cuts will also likely have an impact on local governments in Wyoming.
Aguiar said he expects Hot Springs to make cuts and return to its 2021 levels of funding, which he thinks is manageable when considering his county has actually lost a little population in recent years.
“We’re going to have to really tighten the belts for a few years and get used to being a little less frivolous,” he said.
Why Not Use Savings?
Many have criticized counties expressing concern about this situation by pointing out the amount of money these counties have in reserves.
Although some smaller counties like Hot Springs County have a more modest total of around $2.5 million, some of the much larger or more endowed counties like Sublette have well more than $150 million in their reserves.
Laramie County has around $92 million in reserves. Pulling from this account to cover a loss in revenue derived from the property tax cut, Malm said, is antithetical to fiscally conservative policy making.
“You’re using one-time money for ongoing expenses,” he said.
Malm said Laramie County, like many others in Wyoming, keeps money in reserves for specific emergency events and funding sixth-penny projects while the taxes for those projects are being collected.
Aguiar said his county will have to tap into its reserves to make ends-meet this budget cycle.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
