Healthy communities have cultural resources of sufficient quality to serve the needs of current residents and attract new people to put down roots and become residents. When the community bands together to raise taxes for a cultural resource, you can bet that resource is adding value to their lives.
Such is the case with the November 2014 vote to increase the sales tax in Johnson County in order to raise money for expansion of the Johnson County Library. The 1% Special Option Sales Tax is estimated to raise $13.7 million toward the $14.7 million expansion. It goes into effect on April 1, 2015. http://www-wsl.state.wy.us/slpub/boards/NewsToUse1411.pdf
Johnson County voters also approved a renewal of the 2% lodging tax in November. The lodging tax is paid by those who stay in hotels and motels in the county. It is used to support tourism efforts in Johnson County. http://www.johnsoncountywyoming.org/docs/Clerk/2015_1__specific_purpose_tax_info.pdf
To follow news of the Johnson County Library’s expansion, visit http://www.jclwyo.org/Expansion.html
For more information on lodging taxes charged by other Wyoming counties, read this article in Wyoming Business Report: http://wyomingbusinessreport.com/counties-eye-lodging-taxes/