SUBLETTE COUNTY – Golf cart “leases” and Jonah Energy’s ad valorem and past-due tax payments merited close scrutiny during the Board of Sublette County Commissioners’ Nov. 21 meeting.

First, chair Sam White, Dave Stephens, Doug Vickrey, Tom Noble and Mack Bradley voted unanimously to approve formation of the Daniel Mosquito Improvement District as petitioned by Jean Hayward of Daniel.

Hayward said she has a solid group of people willing to step in and the Boulder district will advise initial reports and audits. County clerk Carrie Long said the next stage is a 30-day protest period, a rebuttal if needed and then the district could have board elections. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the new district.

Jonah contract

Jonah Energy’s Paul Ulrich and Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich moved up to discuss the new 10-year repayment contract county commissioners pre-approved at their Nov. 7 meeting.

Stephens commented to Ulrich that some citizens said Jonah Energy’s proposed monthly repayment terms of deferred taxes did not financially benefit the county.

“Are you gaining interest on this (deferred and due) money,” Stephens asked. “We’re like a bank, and financing this. … It bothers me a little.”

Jonah is set to repay deferred ad valorem taxes of about $98 million to the state, as well as currently assessed ad valorem taxes on oil and natural gas production.

The county receives 1 mil or 1/12th of that total over the months of repayment, White said.

“We can’t charge interest on a tax but we can charge a late fee,” White added. “We do lose some due to inflation.”

Down the pipe

White asked Ulrich earlier what plans Jonah Energy has “coming down the pipe.”

“I can’t answer that,” Ulrich said, adding the operator might schedule a drilling rig next year.

Stephens referred to that later. “You’re going to use (the money owed) for a rig and that’s money we’re sacrificing; in black and white, it’s the way it is.”

Ulrich said, “Drilling versus not drilling.”

White said anything Jonah does produce helps the county.

Vickrey also noted that renegotiating the repayment contract “frees you up to reinvest.”

“The contract in front of you has more protections and a shorter payback than what is currently in the state legislation,” Ulrich said.

On the motion to approve Jonah Energy’s revised 10-year payback contract on approximately $98 million, with $816,00 due monthly beginning Jan. 2, Noble, White and Bradley voted aye. Vickrey and Stephens voted against its approval.

Lease or sale?

At their Nov. 7 meeting, commissioners also questioned a Rendezvous Meadows golf cart lease contract with Yamaha Financial Services brought forward by the Rendezvous Meadows Golf Course board, specifically asking why the 5-year “lease” contract terms include almost $25,000 in interest billed to the county rec board.

White asked Melinkovich to study the contract and for golf board president Scott Cheeney to attend the Nov. 21 meeting.

Commissioners had noted that the “lease,” with no specific wording to that effect, appeared to be a sale. They questioned Cheeney about the golf cart contract, which he said was the same as a previous version.

Directly buying a Yamaha golf cart costs $8,500 to $9,000, Cheeney said, and leased new ones are rotated every two or three years “and we just give them back.”

Rendezvous Meadows received 15 carts this summer to replace 15 old ones, of which only 10 were operating, he said. The Yamaha dealer takes them back in any condition; the golf course owns 23 carts and “an old boneyard we steal parts off of.”

“We’re paying pretty healthy interest,” White said.

He asked Cheeney if the current deal was “the best use of taxpayers’ money over buying the carts yourself?”

Cheeney said he never looked at other deals and the board never asked employee Jeremy Christensen to compare costs.

“Somebody’s going to have to show me one word in (the contract) and that’s ‘lease,’” Vickrey said. “I’m not ready to jump out there until we understand this issue.”

Options

The contract shows “principal” as $53,800 and “interest” at $24,900 for the 5-year contract.

Melinkovich studied the contract and, “For all intents and purposes, it’s a sale. It’s a weird way to set it up. They transfer the titles but they take (the golf carts) back.”

Cheeney and county clerk Carrie Long explained that the golf cart line item is in the Sublette County Rec Board’s annual budget and just needs “a county signature” once each fiscal year.

White and Vickrey asked Cheeney if the rec board could just pay the one-time balance.

“Just cut one check and avoid the interest?” Vickrey asked. “… I don’t see the county having to pay $25,000 in interest for 15 golf carts.”

“That’s a logical question but I don’t think that question has been asked,” Melinkovich said.

White asked Cheeney to contact the Yamaha dealer and see if that is a possibility. Cheeney could report to the rec board, Melinkovich and commissioners.

“Go get us some options from Yamaha.”

Jail contract

Melinkovich said Sheriff KC Lehr is making an agreement with Wyoming Department of Corrections for the Sublette County Detention Center to house overflow inmates as needed, for $70 per day. The state agency would make the payments. He and Lehr worked through the contract to avoid any liability or unexpected costs, such as medical or payroll.

“This is under KC’s purview,” Melinkovich said. “So you are all aware this is his plan, to get your blessing.”

Commissioners approved the action, 5-0.