Casper Citizens’ Department of Government Efficiency Sets Budget Town Hall

Flyers for the Casper Citizens' Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) appeared around town this week.

Organizer Ross Schriftman dropped one off at the Townsquare Media office in Casper as well.

The group is hosting a Town Hall to discuss the City of Casper's FY 2026 Budget.

"New Information Revealed that Affects our Money," reads the flyer. "Come out. Find out. Speak out!"

The meeting is being held on Thursday night, June 5th, from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at the Agriculture Research and Learning Center.

Who are the Casper Citizens' DOGE?

They claim to be a group of volunteer citizens from different backgrounds with various suggestions on government spending, operations, and projects.

K2 Radio News reached out to Shriftman to discuss what he thinks the top priorities of the City ought to be.

He says government should have a limited role. He believes the City's budget should prioritize public safety, infrastructure, and open space.

"My concern, and some of the people involved, is some of the extra things they're doing that they seem to think are required when they can be done by private" explains Shriftman. "This budget starts at a lower number than last year's budget, which is a good thing, and I think the staff does a good job. In fact, the finance department got an award for how much they do. Of course, they have a massive amount of accounts and report that they have to do."

Shriftman emphasized what he believes is a big problem -- "a lot of talk about the roads not being maintained."

Last Tuesday (May 27th, 2025), the City of Casper council met for a four hour work session to discuss the budget. At the regular council meeting tonight the City is scheduled to adopt establish a public hearing date for adopting the FY 2025-2026 Budget.

At that meeting City Manager Carter Napier stated, "I appreciate that you're all buckled in for a long discussion. I want you to feel comfortable that as we go through this information you can ask whatever questions you'd like and whatever additional information you need, because that's why we're here. We're here to help you understand the broad context of the budget and what it is that ultimately I hope you'll approve in the second meeting in June, which means that once we're at that point we're pretty much at a point of no return as far as passing the budget goes."

See the Casper city council meeting from May 27th below. You can livestream tonight's meeting by going to the City of Casper's Youtube page.