START's $9.3 million budget gets a special joint meeting on Aug. 31

START riders and workers just got one clear date to watch: the Teton County Board of County Commissioners' calendar set a county-hosted special joint meeting for Aug. 31 at 1:30 p.m. on the START budget county calendar. For people trying to get to an early shift without a car, that matters even when the agenda line is thin, because this is where the town and county put the bus budget back in public view before service decisions land.

The deeper budget trail still leaves a lot unsaid. A June joint budget packet said both boards had already declined a proposed operator wage adjustment and described START as one of the joint budgets still under discussion joint budget packet. The research wiki for this recurring fight puts the current START Bus budget at $9,316,774 for fiscal year 2026, including $54,400 for a vanpool pilot, but the Aug. 17 calendar does not say whether Aug. 31 is about cuts, added local support, or another round of trimming. If you ride START to work, this is the meeting that may finally answer that.