The General Penny: Get Educated
The Town of Jackson has created a website about the General Penny to educate voters before they are asked to check yes or no about it in November 3’s election. Jackson’s Town Council is unanimous in its support for putting this question before voters. Why? What can the General Penny do for our community?
- The General Penny could provide $7M in additional revenues annually for the Town of Jackson.
- These funds could enable the Town to meet our community’s highest priorities and be used to continue providing services for all our community members.
- The Town anticipates more than half of collections from a General Penny (55%) will be paid for by tourists. So, visitors would contribute and the Town could use that money to offset their impacts.
What community needs could the General Penny help support?
- Community Recovery: The General Penny could support community resilience, including helping fund our community’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
- Childcare & Human Services: Childcare. Elder care. Mental health services. Child abuse and domestic violence prevention. Food insecurity relief. The General Penny could be used to help the caring sector maintain current service levels and continue its critical work.
- Core Services: Fire/EMS. Plowed snow. Safe roads. Clean water. Community Safety. Functioning sewers. Building permits. The General Penny could be used to support and sustain services our community counts on.
- Affordable Housing: The General Penny could be utilized in the long-term to help the Town and County build more housing in our community.
- Shifting How We Travel & Climate Action: Greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise in our valley. These emissions lead to climate warming, which affects our ecosystem. A General Penny could be used to support multimodal transportation and the creation of a Climate Action Plan.
- Conservation: The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is our community’s economic and recreational backbone. The General Penny could be used to help make strides toward achieving our conservation goals.
If passed, the first collection of the General Penny would be in the spring of 2021. It would remain in place for four years providing millions of dollars of resources to our community to meet current and future needs. The money raised by the General Penny is not limited to any particular use. The funds
can be used to support many different community needs. The Town is in the process of creating a committee with nonprofit, business, and other leaders to provide perspective on budgeting, including how to use General Penny monies if voters approve it.
The General Penny could provide a lot. Learn more at www.generalpenny.com.