Wyomingites could see more property tax relief in the years ahead.
Fresh off of the passage of one of Wyoming’s largest tax cuts in its history, Wyoming House Revenue Committee Chairman Tony Locke, R-Casper, told Cowboy State Daily he considers the newly effective laws providing residential property owners a 25% tax break and providing some long-term homeowners a 50% tax break to be short-term relief.
“What I believe we need to move toward is what I would refer to as long-term reform,” Locke said.
Long-term relief can come in many flavors, he added.
Eliminate property taxes
One option is to remove the state’s property tax entirely and replace some of the lost revenues with a higher sales tax, McKeown told Cowboy State Daily.
State Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, introduced a bill in 2024 to do just that, but it did not pass.
Legislation to remove property taxes isn’t unique to Wyoming, former Wyoming resident and Tax Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Manish Bhatt told Cowboy State Daily.
“In fact, we’re in what many are calling a property tax revolt where we’re seeing states around the country consider eliminating the property tax altogether,” Bhatt added. “How we provide relief is important and ensuring that we’re not nearly shifting the burden onto businesses or renters who may … be oftentimes least able to afford those tax increases.”
Property taxes often fund local governments, Bhatt said.
“We have to be sensitive to the fact that those taxes pay for things,” Locke added. “They pay for a part of our counties’ bills, they pay for part of our city’s bills, they pay for part of our school bills.”
Lawmakers must ask themselves how local fire and police departments will be funded and how local governments will pave roads and provide schools to residents, he added.
Wyoming’s new law hurts poorer counties like Niobrara, Weston and Hot Springs, State Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, recently said on the Cowboy State Daily Radio with Jake.
Hot Springs County Commissioners said Tuesday that they have no option but to decrease their budget by $2.1 million due to the revenue loss. The commissioners made cuts to the county’s 4–H program and extension office. The county also laid off an administrative assistant at the extension office.
Mariam Erkinbaeva, who has two daughters in 4-H, said that her girls enjoy cake decorating and the shooting sports program, and she and other parents are trying to keep the program going.
“We are selling raffle tickets and raising money, but it’s not enough,” Erkinbaeva said. “I know the school has no funds and we need the 4–H program for our children.”
Those are actual cuts, Driskill added.
“It’s not a reduction in increase. It’s a cut to them,” he said.
A museum in Hot Springs may close and Crook County’s hurt, he added. Ambulances and firefighting services also could be impacted in Crook County.
“Those services come into question, and it could do long-term economic harm to the state,” Bhatt added.
Change how property taxes are calculated
Another option is to change how Wyoming determines what a property owner pays, McKeown continued. One method is to determine a property’s value based on fair-market value at the time of purchase, he added.
The devil’s in the details of how that would be implemented, Locke said.
One potential problem would be determining the taxes on a property that’s been inherited.
“Some of us would say, ‘if your dad gives you the house, I probably wouldn’t change the taxes.’ … Some would not say that,” Locke added.
Place limits on how fast property taxes can rise
Another option is to place caps on how much property taxes can increase each year, Locke added. Locke said Wyoming has a 4% cap but he’d like that number to be lower.
There are also additional complexities with the cap, Locke said. The cap goes away if a home’s footprint is changed which can leave a property owner with a big tax bill, he said.
Caps provide a restraint on the growth of taxes, Bhatt said. They also assure that local governments have the funding to provide services to their residents even as inflation is high, he added.
Caps are “a far more neutral and stable way of providing property tax relief…,” Bhatt said.
Wyoming House Democratic Caucus Chairwoman State Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, said providing Wyomingites financial freedom from rising expenses is important but added the legislature needs to be honest about how changes to the tax structure affect local governments.
“Property taxes are how we collectively pool our resources to pay for shared services that support strong communities,” Sherwood told Cowboy State Daily. “In Wyoming, personal responsibility means more than just taking care of yourself – it means doing right by your community.”
She said she would not favor more property tax reductions that benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of our public schools, safe roads and emergency response teams.
There’s a lot of options, Locke added.
“Whichever approach we take, I believe that we need to get back to a baseline where the people aren’t struggling and … where everyone is taxed evenly,” Locke said.
Matthew Christian can be reached at matthew@cowboystatedaily.com.
