Natrona County officials confirm Natrona County Fire District allocation at roughly $2.004 million, officials say paperwork caused confusion

Natrona County staff and representatives of the Natrona County Fire Protection District told commissioners that the correct tax allocation for the district is $2,004,004.29. Tammy (surname not provided), who presented the calculation to the board, said the figure was derived by adding real and personal assessed values, subtracting exemptions, and applying the district's three-mill levy.

Tammy told the commission she pulled an abstract summary report, which showed a combined assessed valuation of about 668,374,849 and noted exemptions of approximately 231,757; applying the three-mill levy produced the $2,004,004.29 figure. Fire-district board members said the calculation explained previously reported discrepancies: the district had earlier believed it would receive roughly $4.3 million, and that difference prompted repeated inquiries to the treasurer's office.

Fire officials said the paperwork confusion strained short-term cash flow: they reported that about $80,000 of reserve funds was used recently to cover payroll while the allocation was clarified. Board members said they had not relied on the larger figure in their adopted budget and that the district's leadership will present the reconciled numbers at their upcoming board meeting.

Commissioners and fire-district representatives asked county staff to keep an open line of communication so local fire boards and taxpayers can receive clear explanations about assessed values, exemptions and mill distributions. Tammy said she had spent weeks auditing district tables and would continue to coordinate with the treasurer's office and district leadership to prevent recurrence.

No formal vote or policy action was taken during the discussion; the session was informational and intended to clear up the accounting and public queries.