Cheyenne survey indicates support for development

CHEYENNE – Many Cheyenne residents say they want economic development, according to the most recent City of Cheyenne Citizen Survey, but they don’t necessarily agree on how to get it – or want to pay for itEconomic development tied gangs and youth issues as the city’s top priority, each with 24 percent, according to the survey, and was followed by the need for planning for future growth with 20 percent and educational opportunities with 17 percent.
When asked about economic growth specifically, 43 percent of the respondents wanted faster economic growth than is occurring now (below 2 percent), while 49 percent wanted to retain the current rate and 7 percent wanted a slower rate.
But when those who wanted faster economic growth were asked whether they would support tax increases for economic development, the response was less clear. A majority (60 percent) of those wanting faster growth said they would support tax increases for infrastructure improvements for new industry, but majorities opposed tax increases for financial incentives for new business relocations (52 percent opposed) and for establishing a permanent trust fund for economic development (54 percent opposed).
“We have quite a segment locally that doesn’t really want economic growth,´ said Dick O’Gara, director of the Center for Economic and Business Data at Laramie County Community College who worked with the City Planning Department in preparing the citizen surveys.
“Many of those that are for economic growth don’t want it to be any faster than what it already is, and right now our economic growth is really stagnant for all practical purposes,” O’Gara said. “There’s a rather massive contradiction out there. A majority want us to grow no more rapidly than we are now, there is a smaller segment that does not want any growth, and there is another segment that would like to grow a little faster, but they’re not willing to pay for it.”
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