CHEYENNE - When federal regulators determined that Buffalo needed to replace its water treatment plant not long ago, the small northern Wyoming town suddenly faced a staggering $11 million price tag for a new plant.
Luckily for Buffalo, a town deeply affected by the booming coal-bed methane industry, the state chipped in with most of the money to keep water flowing from the tap.
"Without [state funding], we could not have done the project," Mayor Mike Johnson said. "We're not going to go out to get $11 million to do anything."
As communities across Wyoming stretch to meet the needs of a growing work force and other impacts of the booming minerals industry, the state is increasingly stepping in with money to help ease the impact, and help towns accommodate new workers and their families.
Millions of dollars have been pumped into communities to pay for water treatment plants, sewer lines, schools and other necessities in the last few years.
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Local officials say that while they urgently need even more cash, many critical projects have been paid for with the funds they have already received.
In Pinedale, for example, matching funds from the State Loan and Investment Board, or SLIB, helped extend large-capacity water and sewer lines to a multi-family housing project slated for construction in the spring.
In addition to easing somewhat a serious housing shortage, the homes could help transform part of Pinedale's transient worker population into full-time residents, who pay taxes, serve on community boards and volunteer their time, said Mayor Stephen Smith.
"In this particular project, the SLIB money was vital," Smith said.
Starting in about 2004, the state Legislature began appropriating large sums of money to local governments, in addition to their normal revenue streams.
The money - from a bounty of state mineral severance taxes and federal mineral royalties - was mostly used for construction and purchases that towns needed, many as a result of energy development.
The Legislature pumped about $287 million in extra funding into local governments during the 2007-08 state budget cycle. Early this year, the Legislature appropriated another $330 million to local governments for the 2009-10 budget cycle.
Local governments receive the money in a couple of ways.
A portion goes directly to city councils and county commissions to be used at their discretion for operation and capital costs. Another chunk of funds for construction and equipment is more tightly regulated.
"Most of that money, if not all of it, flows through the State Loan and Investment Board," said George Parks, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities. "But lots of the decision making is done locally."
The state has also distributed millions of dollars to towns via the Wyoming Business Council and its Business-Ready Community Grant & Loan Program, and its community facilities program that helps convert public buildings into community centers.
The amount of money towns and counties receive is determined largely by population; more population normally means more money.
But in many cases, very small towns have received large sums of money for capital construction projects that might never have happened otherwise, Parks said.
And it's not only towns in mineral-rich areas that receive funding.
Not long ago, the town of Lovell received a Wyoming Business Council grant to convert an old water treatment plan into a community center.
The town, which is located far from the natural gas fields, contributed just $300,000 in matching funds toward a $1.6 million center that today is the only place in Lovell large enough to hold a convention or public event where several hundred people attend.
"It's a wonderful resource," Lovell Mayor Bruce Morrison said. "I know people who have been to that facility and seen the before and the after and can't believe it."
Despite all the state spending, officials in many towns and counties across the state say far more money is needed to meet the needs created by growth in the minerals industry and new workers moving into Wyoming.
Smith, the Pinedale mayor, said just three communities in Sublette County have identified $70 million in infrastructure needs.
"It's kind of hard to stretch that SLIB money to solve all the needs around the state," Smith said.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal's supplemental budget request, released last week, calls for another roughly $75 million for towns and counties. The Legislature will consider the spending proposal when it meets next month.
Contact capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@trib.com.
