Cheyenne rejects stormwater fund plan amid flood concerns

What the council rejected

Cheyenne City Council rejected on Monday a policy change that would have created a regular path for moving excess General Fund reserves into stormwater runoff management. The proposal required an annual review whenever reserves exceeded 365 days of city operating costs. After that review, the city could choose to transfer as much as into a stormwater account.

The General Fund pays for the city’s daily operations. Cheyenne policy requires reserves equal to at least 120 days of expenses, while the city currently keeps about 365 days on hand. The proposed transfer would not have been automatic.

The Finance Committee, which reviews city financial matters before they reach the full council, had declined to support the resolution the previous week. Committee members questioned why a separate policy was needed because the city can already transfer excess reserves.

Flood risk and public clarity

Councilor Michelle Aldrich backed the proposal as a way to build funding gradually for drainage work and avoid larger infrastructure problems later. She said Cheyenne is about behind on deferred improvements that could help protect the city from severe flooding.

Aldrich tied the proposal to continuing drainage concerns after the deadly Aug. 1, 1985, flood. She warned that Cheyenne could face risk if a similarly intense rain event occurred again.

Other council members objected that the account’s purpose would not be clear enough to the public, describing it as money set aside without a sufficiently defined use. Aldrich is not a Finance Committee member and did not attend that committee’s earlier discussion to explain the resolution. The council’s rejection leaves the existing General Fund reserve policy and the city’s current transfer authority in place.