What Led Cheyenne To Repeal Its Stormwater Fee Structure?

Not everyone on the Cheyenne City Council is happy about it, but the council on Monday voted 7-3 on third reading to repeal fees designed to pay for infrastructure to handle flooding caused by stormwater runoff.

Original Fee Plan Approved By Council In 2024

The council on December of 2024 signed off on a plan that would have charged property owners 24 cents per month on every 100 feet of hard surface. The city said most people would end up paying less than $10 per month.

But the plan sparked widespread complaints, at least one lawsuit and threats of other legal action. In December of 2025 the city put the fees on hold to "ensure that properties with complex ownerships are billed in an efficient and accurate manner" in the words of a city news release.

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The Wyoming Legislature in it's 2026 budget session considered a bill that would have forced Cheyenne and Laramie to put proposed stormwater fees to a public vote. That might have been a hard sell, since the fees appeared to be deeply unpopular in both communities.

Legislature Holds Off On Bill That Would Have Put Fees To A vote

But the Wyoming Senate decided to hold off on that for now with the understanding that the two cities would repeal the existing fees and let the legislature tackle the subject as an interim topic ahead of the 2027 legislative session.

Former councilman Richard Johnson on Monday told the council he doesn't trust the legislature to actually fix the problem, and that people may end up dying because of the lack of stormwater infrastructure.

Councilwoman Michelle Aldrich said that while she would vote for the repeal, some of her conversations with state legislators leave a question in her mind as to whether the legislature is actually going to fix the problem. Councilwoman Kathy Emmons said that while she thinks the council has to give the legislature a chance to work on the issue, she doubts the legislature will come through with a solution

But despite a general skepticism about any solution coming from the state legislature, the repeal passed 7-3. Mayor Collins and councilmembers Moody, Aldrich, Emmons, White, Rinne and Segrave voted for the repeal. Councilors Laybourne, Wolfe and Esquibel voted against it.