Town, county to settle $19,860 gap over who pays to run the pathways

The pathways program costs $331,001 a year to run in fiscal 2027. That budget pays for the people and work behind the paved network between town and the trailheads: "staff salaries, programming, safety education, professional services, system management, planning" and development review, according to the joint meeting packet. Mowing, plowing and paving are budgeted elsewhere. On Monday, Oct. 5, the Jackson Town Council and Teton County commissioners are set to pick a split. The county has proposed 54% county and 46% town, which comes to $178,740 and $152,260. The town wants to keep the current 60/40 split: $198,600 from the county and $132,400 from the town. The packet puts the gap at $19,860, and staff "have not made a joint or individual recommendation."

The September 14 packet traces the history. The 2003 pathways agreement split operations 50/50. In 2011 the split moved to the census-based 54/46. A 2024 joint funding agreement then phased in 60/40 for this year and 62/38 for fiscal 2028. The boards did not agree on this line at that meeting. They did agree that pathways capital projects stay with whichever jurisdiction the project sits in. Over the past five years that has meant the county paid 93% of capital costs. For the program that plans every new connector, the fight is about less than $20,000 a year, a small sum next to the capital bills.