Stating it is the most democratic option, the steering committee veered past the $90 million to $100 million ballot cap that was planned for the Sixth Penny ballot.

The ballot is now sitting at $185,647,006 and that number is likely going up. The list is composed of 40 ballot items, eight of which are individual projects. The project lists proposed by the towns and county for infrastructure, quality of life projects and public safety are going to be arranged into groups.

There will be four different grouped propositions for voters to decide on, that will have a project from each entity represented. The different grouped propositions have a total around $60 million, which is likely to go up.

The reason the total cost of projects has not been locked in yet has to do with ballot size and pay out time. If everything on the $185 million ballot passes, it will take 10 years to pay off. The concerns for that long of a pay out are project delays, inflation affecting costs of projects and bonding also affecting costs of projects that cannot be put off. To solve these worries the committee began planning to add 4.5 percent on to each project to factor in bonding.

No numbers are set in stone at this time as Align facilitator, Mona Pearl, advised each entity call a bonding agent or two to assess bonding rates for 2013. Pine Bluffs mayor Bill Shain explained some of Pine Bluffs’ projects already factored in bonding, noting they hadn’t on previous ballots and ended up eating some of the cost.

Burns mayor Judy Johnstone said none of their projects account for bonding and have already been bid out.

Of all the towns, the main push to remove the cap came from Cheyenne, whose council refused to prioritize their list, Mark Rinne, Cheyenne councilman explained. Pine Bluffs and Burns expressed no qualms at the meeting against increasing the cap as they increased their lists to maintain percentages.

Albin was the lone voice raised against such a high price ballot.

“We are voted in by the people to do what is best, I think this sends a bad signal that we don’t care about the economy and the value of money,” Albin mayor Kelly Krakow said. “I think we’re putting the vote in jeopardy.”

Shain said he agreed except that the ballot is broken into specific projects for the voters to decide on. Putting everything before the voters was agreed on to be the most democratic method, with Albin still shaking their heads.

The ballot totals by entity are Albin, $3.2 million; Burns, just over $5 million; Pine Bluffs, slightly above $10 million; Laramie County at $70,096,850; and the city of Cheyenne, $105,731,157.

Troy Thompson said the commissioners had set the cap thinking prioritization would take place and with the intention of creating a shorter deadline for pay out. Patrick Collins, president of the Cheyenne city council expressed doubt everything on the ballot would pass.

“Cheyenne is a little more optimistic,” Rinne said, noting Swan Ranch and other developments should bring business in, which would speed payout. “Cheyenne is the economic engine in the county. When we do well, we all do well.”

Phil Van Horn of Align asked the committee to review their projects’ costs and ensure the proper amounts are reflected on the ballot.

Shain said Pine Bluffs is happy with their $10 million list, but had a solid $5 million list planned because they thought there was going to be a cap. The back half of the town’s list may need some fine tuning, Shain explained, asking for another meeting before approving the list.

Krakow expressed concerns over bonding the sewer project in Albin, and said that figure should be adjusted for work to begin further in the future.

In terms of prioritizing the ballot, Thompson said he wanted the public safety issues in one group on the top of the ballot.

“The county’s perspective is the 911 update is extremely important,” Thompson explained. “If the public safety issues don’t pass, we’re in trouble.”

The county pulled two projects from their ballot list, baseball fields and the public works project. The Cheyenne downtown hole project has been pulled from the group list and placed as a stand alone project.

The stand alone projects are the downtown hole, $7.8 million; Laramie County fairgrounds $21.9 million; Cheyenne recreation center, $33 million; the botanic gardens, $16 million; the Cheyenne public safety building, $25 million; Laramie County’s Christensen Overpass $10,295,000; Laramie County’s senior center, $7,896,000; and the UW Cooperative extension learning center, $9,945,838. None of these numbers are official at this time and are likely to increase with a bonding percentage to be factored in.

In bonding discussion, Krakow said taking a three-year bond out to 10 years would mean a substantial increase in interest over the extra seven years. Johnstone said Burns’ projects are staggered but for more immediate completion, and was favorable of adding a bonding percentage.

Shain said the Lagoon project was not planned as a need for another seven or eight years, which is an estimate he received from Lidstone and Associates. If the ballot stretches to the 10-year pay out, Shain is confident that need will fit in the timeline. He also expressed confidence in their total list being sufficient for meeting the 10-year town needs, but said there are a few ideas the town would like to review.

When the dust settled, Jerrie Gehrman of Albin’s council said she was, “In shock. I was prepared for fighting. I think it is unfair to the taxpayers, it’s asking too much for too long a time commitment.”

Extended interest payments on projects that should not need to be bonded was a concern of Gehrman’s. She does have confidence in Albin’s list and said they planned based on necessity not want. Her main worry is if something happens five years out and the town has to wait another five years for funding.

Johnstone was also surprised by the meeting’s outcome, but pleasantly.

“I thought it went very well. Everyone’s pretty much on the same page,” said Johnstone. “I have gone from being nervous on possible disagreements to comfortable with how things are going.”

During the meeting Johnstone voiced support for all projects, she explained later, “If people care enough to work hard to get an issue on the ballot, then they deserve a chance for people to vote on it.”

At the next steering committee meeting the headings for the grouped projects will be discussed, as will the official groupings and new project costs. The next Sixth Penny meeting will be held at the Burns-Plex in the Burns council chambers on Thursday, Jan. 26. at 5:30 p.m.