Swap Meet Discussion Series: Commissioner Mark Newcomb

Like a book club, but less of a commitment.

Read and discuss thought-provoking articles with local electeds.

Discussions take place in the fireplace area of the library. Please arrive by 7:05 p.m., as these programs are after-hours, and the front door must be staffed for you to enter.

County Commissioner Mark Newcomb
WED, OCT 25
7-8:30 p.m.

Article: Commercial and Residential Employee Generation and Affordable Housing Nexus Survey (Prepared for Town of Jackson & Teton County, by Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. June 26, 2023)
Wyoming’s low-tax environment and the attractiveness of Jackson and Teton County has generated extremely strong demand for real estate, resulting in high prices in every sector, while wages remain well below levels that would give local workers the means to compete with high net worth individuals from outside Teton County for housing. For decades local workers have been increasingly forced to live in satellite communities, commuting over Teton Pass, or through Snake River or Hoback Canyon, highways prone to closure during periods of extreme winter weather and creating a de facto labor shortage that can be acute during winter storms. Businesses have started and grown, creating more new jobs, as they respond to market opportunities generated from the growing population of high net worth households and increasing levels of visitation. Zoning amendments to increase density has incentivized private developers to build housing, but it’s not enough, and rents remain high. Local service industry workers struggle to live here. More importantly, workers in critical public service roles, be that public safety, public health or education, struggle to live here. Creating threats to residents health and welfare via lower levels of service. Whose responsibility is it to fund and build workforce housing (housing that is not profitable for private developers to build)? Entirely the private sector’s? Entirely the public sectors? Should developers of new large, labor intensive homes and new, labor intensive brick and mortar businesses (offices, short-term rentals, etc) bear any of the cost of developing housing for workers generated by new development?  

Answering these policy questions requires data on how many new jobs (and resulting demand for new homes) are generated by new development. This paper builds an analytical framework to provide data on job generation by development type. Policy makers will use this data to answer policy questions around how to meet the demand for new workforce housing this fall.