Bill to put recreation mill on ballots dies in Senate

SHERIDAN (WNE) — A bill that would have required recreation mills be renewed by voters every four years is dead.

Recreation mills date back to 1951, when the Legislature authorized local governments to collect not more than one mill for recreational purposes. In 1994, the Legislature restricted the mill levy to only allow school districts to impose the one recreation mill.

Rather than leaving the decision to school boards, House Bill 127, “Voter approval for recreation mill levy,” would have required voter approval every four years to impose a mill levy for a recreation district.

The Senate did not consider HB127 during its Committee of the Whole — the first opportunity for the entire chamber to review and debate a bill — Tuesday, which was the cutoff date for bills to pass through COW in a bill’s second chamber. The bill is dead for the session because it did not meet that cutoff date.

Nobody testified in support of the bill during the Senate Revenue Committee’s meeting Friday, though during a House Revenue Committee meeting Feb. 17, Crook County residents spoke in favor of it. 

Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, sponsored the bill after the Crook County School Board assessed a recreation mill to the dismay of residents. He has said the bill would help improve transparency and accountability for the recreation mills levied across the state and how the tax dollars are spent.

During the same meeting, former Gillette Republican Sen. Jeff Wasserburger told the House committee the bill would strip school boards of what little power they have to generate local revenue.

“This is their last piece of local control,” Wasserburger said.

Recreation advocates warned the bill could have spelled trouble for Wyoming communities and create funding uncertainties around recreational opportunities. 

This story was published on March 4, 2026.