Hot Springs County Commission Fight Over Split From 'Socialist' State Group

The chairman of the Hot Springs County Commission on Tuesday disagreed strongly with the vice-chair’s plan to break from the board’s statewide lobby group.

It’s “ridiculous” to think Hot Springs County could have the same force on state and federal policies on its own for anywhere near the costs, Hot Springs County Commission Chair Tom Ryan told his fellow county officials during the commission’s regular meeting Tuesday.

The commission did not vote on the question, and is slated to discuss this issue again when it plans its budget this summer.

Hot Springs County Commission Vice-Chair Bob Aguiar told Cowboy State Daily prior that he and fellow Commissioner Paul Galovich plan to break from the Wyoming County Commissioner’s Association (WCCA), over qualms about what he calls its “socialist” tendencies to grow government.

Aguiar and Galovich comprise a majority of the three-person commission which runs Hot Springs County.

But as of Tuesday, Galovich told Cowboy State Daily he’s undecided on the issue. He said the WCCA brings benefits to the people of Hot Springs County, and he appreciated its leaders taking the time to answer county officials’ questions.

WCCA executive director Jerimiah Rieman addressed many concerns before the commission during its regular meeting Tuesday, saying the organization just parrots legislative positions on which more than 70% of elected commissioners polled agree.

The WCCA generally pushes state lawmakers to defer to local, county governance, and to protect county revenues for local services.

Ryan during the meeting backed the WCCA and disagreed strongly with Aguiar’s position. He said withdrawing from the lobby group would cost the county more money in the long run, by compelling county officials to run their own operations in Cheyenne.

“If we duplicate the services they’re providing, we spend a lot more taxpayer dollars,” said Ryan, who said the Commission’s WCCA dues are about $7,700 annually.

“It’s our position to maximize those dollars and I think by leaving the association, it would be a horrible waste of taxpayer dollars.”

By The Numbers

Ryan theorized that the county would spend $200,000 to run its own lobby operations. He broke this down in a later interview with Cowboy State Daily, saying the commission would have to take on a salary position to lobby at interim and session meetings, plus before federal agencies, and may need to hire its own legal analysis on several issues, if it broke from the WCCA. 

Only about 38% of Hot Springs County land is private; while the rest is held by state or federal entities, he said. That makes WCCA’s work with state and federal entities especially vital, Ryan added in his interview. 

“We’d be ridiculous to think that we were talking about saving taxpayer dollars,” he told the commission Tuesday.

Aguiar countered: “That’s your opinion.”

“It’s my opinion, but it’s a fact,” said Ryan.

Hot Springs County Clerk Becky Kersten spoke up as well, saying the WCCA helped rescue the local fire district last year by mobilizing lawmakers.

“I don’t know that any of us would have had the time (to do that),” she said.

Aguiar said the WCCA’s supporters are underestimating the power of modern technology. It’s not difficult to email lawmakers simultaneously now, whereas 40 years ago a person would have had to dial them individually by phone, he said.

“We don’t need someone babysitting us,” added Aguiar. “We can do it ourselves.”

A Voice

Rieman responded to complaints that the WCCA is “unelected.” 

He said he’s merely a voice for whatever position a 70% majority of elected county commission leaders choose when legislation surfaces.

Rieman scours bill drafts ahead of the legislative sessions, considers what impact they’ll have on county governance, and puts them to a committee comprised of commission chairs and co-chairs, he said.

It’s up to the chairs and co-chairs to get input from their own commissioners and bring input back to the group, he said.

“It’s a pretty darn powerful, impactful thing when you guys are articulating the (counties’) position,” said Rieman. “A whole lot of commissioners who received a heck-of-a-lot more votes than, frankly, any legislator in the state, are giving me direction.”

Every Wyoming county except Fremont runs at-large county commissioner elections, which means many commissioners receive more votes than their local state legislators.

A man in the audience who did not give his name said his concern is what happens when a county dissents from the 70% majority.

Ryan said dissenting counties are welcome to put their differing opinions before legislators as well.

“(Rieman) just works for us. He’s not doing that on his own,” said Ryan.

Property Taxes

Aguiar’s earlier statements to Cowboy State Daily that WCCA exists to grow government stem from lobbying he said he saw Rieman do for commissioners at the WCCA legislative conference this winter against property tax cuts and other measures in Wyoming. 

He said the conference was nothing more than an “indoctrination training” on how to grow government.

“I was a little disappointed in the way that organization functions,” Aguiar said.

Aguiar is the husband of Cheryl Aguiar, one of the leaders of an effort to put a 50% property tax cut on the 2026 ballot. She’s also involved with an ongoing controversy between the Wyoming Republican Party and certain members of the Hot Springs County GOP.

During the WCCA’s legislative conference this past winter, Aguiar claims Rieman was purposely trying to steer commissioners to make certain votes on bills to reach the 70% threshold required for the organization to take a public stance on legislation. 

If they fail to receive 70%, the counties then submit one vote apiece for a majority vote. 

“He kept badgering the group until he got his 70%,” Aguiar said. 

Laramie County Commissioner Gunnar Malm, the WCCA treasurer, said this isn’t true and Rieman was simply laying out the facts for counties to make their decisions.

Aguiar said he finds it inappropriate that Hot Springs and the other 22 counties were asked before he joined his board to pay an additional fee of around $11,500 to help pay for a mortgage on the WCCA’s building in Cheyenne. 

These fees, which varied based on a county’s size, were approved by commissioners around the state.

Ryan countered in his own interview, saying that the counties own the WCCA’s assets and if the association were to disband, those assets would be split between the member counties.

Aguiar countered yet again, telling Cowboy State Daily the building’s tax records show it belongs to the WCCA, not the county commissions of Wyoming.

“I don’t believe we should be taking taxpayer dollars and giving taxpayer dollars to a… nonprofit company,” he said. Aguiar said when he raised his idea during a recent Wyoming Republican Party leadership meeting, he was met with applause.

Cuts Looming

Aguiar, who fully supported the 25% property tax cut passed during this year’s Legislature, expects his county will have to make some cuts in its upcoming budget, which is another reason he sees for justifying dropping WCCA membership.

“We’re affecting ourselves to have to run on a leaner budget for the next two to three years, and so I think we should set the example as commissioners, this is an organization that we do not need to be a member of,” Aguiar said. “How can we expect people to reduce spending and then throw money at an organization that’s unnecessary for our county?”

Every other county in Wyoming will be in the same position this budget season, with some counties like Weston expecting as large as a 10% cut to their total revenue due to the tax cut. President Donald Trump’s DOGE cuts will also likely have an impact on local governments in Wyoming.

Aguiar said he expects Hot Springs to make cuts and return to its 2021 levels of funding, which he thinks is manageable when considering his county has actually lost a little population in recent years.

“We’re going to have to really tighten the belts for a few years and get used to being a little less frivolous,” he said.

Rieman told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that he went to meet with commissioners because he heard they had “concerns” and his role is to address those. Beyond that, he said, he had nothing to add to what was said at the meeting.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.