---

The 2021 audit for the City of Wyoming arrived recently and the city council saw what it had hoped to see: the tax rate is not going up and dropped and held steady the past two years. It was 55 percent in 2017 and has gone to 43 percent.

Audit presenter for Bergen KDV, Aaron Dahl remarked this indicates the levy isn’t being set at some amount just because council can set it there.

Comparison of this audit to 2020 is skewed somewhat due to CARES Act revenues Wyoming received and expended, that were over and above ordinary taxing action.   So, revenues appear to decrease for 2021 by $680,000.
All in all the water and sewer funds are in good shape, Dahl explained.  The city revenue in permits and licenses is healthy as well.  

The 2021 expenditures were some $101,000 below budget.  City Administrator Robb Linwood said staff can be thanked for that.

Expenditures were $3.8 million.

In other business there was a lengthy design and site plan review of what’s transpired so far on the Wyoming Public Safety Facility.  The firm Wold Architects is putting this together and Jonathan Loose said in typical fashion the square footage has gone up b y 1,000 to 29,000 square feet.  It could be revised yet again as staff and building users continue to have input.

The goal is to keep a separation between the fire department use and access and the police and the public spaces.  Access drives and entries are delineated with fire coming off 273rd and police using the west (north) side.  There will be other opportunities for the design team to get feedback, Loose added.

Wyoming is planning to improve police and fire departments— from adding an evidence storage area to incorporating meeting and training space for firefighters and for OSHA requirements.  Squad cars will be protected in garage space.  The staff will have a break room, lockers and shower and hygiene facilities.

This was not a “final check-off,” Loose advised council,  but a chance for an update on where the project is at.  Design aspects also include a nod to railroad history and the rural heritage of the stagecoach route that went through Wyoming and which is part of the city logo.

The council voted unanimously to revise wording on the ordinance pertaining to “sexual predators” and make the reference predatory offender instead. The wording about distance from a “bus stop” for a residence is deleted.  Chief of Police Bauer said the 1,000 feet in the ordinance basically rules out any area of the city.

The council was reminded the popular ‘Touch a Truck” community event is Saturday, June 4 at 10 a.m.  It’s held at the city police/public works site on Wyoming Trail. All kinds of heavy machinery and emergency vehicles are on display for youngsters and the young-at-heart to enjoy.

---