Every Wyoming town with a good view, a nearby outdoor recreation area, a small airport or a good marketing campaign could become a target for out-of-state investors. The more real estate these investors buy, the tighter the housing market becomes for the people who actually live and work in those communities. With less inventory and more outside demand, prices go up, making housing unattainable for Wyoming families and future generations.
Opinion
This is the future we are driven toward by one simple idea: no property taxes.
The Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee has put forward a proposal to eliminate residential property taxes in Wyoming.
Every Wyomingite should take a step back and look hard at what this plan, which would also require voter approval, would really do. If this proposal passes, we will permanently turn our communities into a discount investment product for people who do not live here. The end result, transforming Wyoming into a full-blown tax shelter for out-of-state residents, will only make it even harder for young people and working families to afford a home. In short, by eliminating property taxes, we sell out our future.
Property taxes are one of the only guardrails we have that discourage people from hoarding land and housing they do not use. If I am a wealthy out-of-state investor and I see land in a beautiful, low-population state with no property tax at all, I start running the numbers in my head. No ongoing expense. No annual tax bill. No cost to sit on a second, third or fourth house for years and wait for prices to rise.
In that world, I would try to buy as much Wyoming land and housing as I could as fast as possible. And I would have no incentive to sell it again anytime soon, and certainly not for an affordable price.
We already see this pressure in places where demand from wealthy out-of-state buyers is strong. When homes are treated first as an asset and only second as a place to live, prices rise faster than local wages. Teachers, nurses, sheriff’s deputies and service workers get pushed further and further away from the communities they serve. Property taxes create a carrying cost for holding multiple homes that sit empty most of the year, while paying for the critical services and infrastructure that make those homes livable in the first place. Eliminating property taxes would make speculative buying even more attractive.
This is exactly the opposite of the Wyoming that we say we want for our kids and grandkids. We say we want young people to stay in Wyoming, start families and build careers here. We say we want them to be able to buy a home in the town where they grew up. A policy that invites unlimited outside demand for housing undercuts that goal. It tilts the playing field toward cash buyers who fly in a few weeks a year and away from the family trying to scrape together a down payment from a Wyoming paycheck.
There is another honest conversation we need to have. When politicians promise to get rid of property taxes, they almost always plan to make it up somewhere else, usually with a big increase to the statewide sales tax.
That might sound harmless until you think about who really pays.
The biggest landowners see their property tax bills disappear. That burden gets passed to the mom in Rock Springs buying clothes and notebooks for the first day of school.
It gets passed to the dad in Casper paying for his kids’ hockey equipment and a pair of winter boots.
It gets passed to the worker in Gillette trying to keep the truck running and pay the electricity bill that keeps going up.
The owner of three houses in Jackson comes out ahead. The family trying to afford one modest home pays more every time they go through the checkout line.
That isn’t tax relief for the middle class. It is shifting the burden from the wealthiest landowners to the everyday Wyomingites who have to spend most of their paycheck just to get by.
Everything is getting more expensive, but the answer is not to blow up our entire tax system, which would make things worse. It’s to continue working on targeted relief that actually reaches the people who need help, and to build more housing for the middle class.
The Legislature has expanded the state property tax refund program so that more middle-class homeowners can qualify. It is not perfect and we should keep improving it, but it has already helped keep Wyomingites in their homes.
And we can build on that work with real housing policy. That means working with local governments on land use to ensure that middle-class housing, rather than just high-end inventory, is possible to develop. It means making it easier to finance the infrastructure that new homes require.
There are solutions. But first, we have to answer a basic question: Who is Wyoming for?
Is it for the people who live here year round, who send their kids to our schools, who volunteer at the food bank, who plow the roads, who run the clinics and fix the power lines? Or is it for investors who want a safe place to park wealth in the form of land and houses they rarely use?
Eliminating property taxes would send a very clear signal about the Legislature’s answer to that question. I hope we choose differently.
A reasonable solution would be to base residential assessments on the purchase price and the actual cost of improvements at the time they are made. The assessment would only be increased according to the cost of living. Why do we argue over all or nothing solutions instead of looking at reasonable, moderate solutions? The present 50% deduction, for long term residents over 65, is an all or nothing solution. I am right on the border of eligibility and do not know if I will get a deduction or not.
Dear Mr. Yin
You may be the first person who I have ever read who says that reducing/eliminating a tax creates a burden on an economy.
As a double major in Economics/Finance and someone who managed multi-hundred million transformation mergers and programs, you learn something very quickly:
Economic Truism #1 – if you want less of something, you tax it
If you want less home ownership, TAX it
People can no longer afford to live in their homes – they must sell because their largest tax has increased 73%
Economic Truism #2 – if you want more of something, subsidize it
If you want more corn, subsidize corn
The ‘affordability’ issue being prominently mentioned by progressives and Wyoming Caucus members is directly related to residential property taxes which have increased 73% while Governor Gordon has been in office.
THE LARGEST TAX A WYOMING PRIVATE CITIZEN PAYS (RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY TAXES) HAS INCREASED 73% OVER THE LAST 6 YEARS.
That 73% increase is the biggest contributor to Wyoming’s alleged ‘affordability’ problem.
The other big ‘affordability’ factor facing Wyoming is that Wyoming’s median household income is 8% below the US average.
So, Wyoming’s largest tax has INCREASED 73% over the last 6 years and Wyoming’s median household income is 8% BELOW the US average.
HIGH TAXES and BELOW AVERAGE INCOME is not how you run a state.
Decades of progressive and Wyoming Caucus policies have created this doomsday scenario that led to the Wyoming Business Council CEO saying ‘Wyoming is in LONG TERM DECLINE.’
The question then becomes how do you reduce taxes and increase income…
Former Speaker Sommers told us recently that Wyoming is ‘climbing’ because of the large increases in state and local revenues and spending.
Yet the WBC CEO said we are in ‘LONG TERM DECLINE’ (the CEO capitalized all letters in this statement)
So…can you, Mr. Sommers or the WBC CEO tell me if Wyoming is in LONG TERM DECLINE or ‘climbing?’
Can a state that has seen a 73% increase in RESIDENTIAL property taxes (the largest tax I pay) and below average income survive?
Property tax is an immoral tax. If you think you own your home, don’t pay property tax for two years. There was a family in Jackson Hole who built their home here in the ’60s for $14,000 (not including land). They had to move recently because their property tax was more than $14,000 per year on a home they ‘owned’. Replace property tax with sales tax on ALL sales, except food. Yes, sales tax should apply to home and land sales also.
Thank you for this fresh perspective on the Freedom Caucus’s assault on residential property tax, Representative Yin.
By demonizing taxes – in one of the nation’s lowest-tax states due to our mineral wealth – the FC will continue to erode our investment in, and responsibility for, the public services we need, enjoy, and in many cases voted for.
As stated in earlier comments, the system isn’t broken: the Legislature enacted various tax relief measures in the last few years to assist not just homeowners in need, but many or even ALL homeowners. Those measures are working … and in some cases undercutting county and town services. Rep. Yin shows us yet another, uglier outcome that deeper cuts would bring.
If we vote for these candidates and their ballot measures in the next election, we’ll have even less local “skin in the game.” Freedom Caucus legislators will be given more power to make top-down decisions affecting town and county governments. That doesn’t sound like Wyoming, where people supposedly care about their neighbors, stand up to improve their communities, and pitch in for common cause. It sounds like China and Russia.
See your county assessor or treasurer to learn what your residential property tax supports, and how the amount is calculated. I urge anyone with questions or complaints about their property tax bill to visit with one of them.
Property taxes should be eliminated in every state! It’s immoral to think you pay for a property but never really own it! It makes us simply serfs to the state!
Ms. Sommers –
I actually have done a great deal of research on residential property taxes and property taxes in general in Wyoming. A few things you may not be aware of (all of this information can be found at the Department of Audit website – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yZmOKh94TPVSy3jlH8lbMfXQ8ZbIwp7m)
For Wyoming’s 23 counties, 91.3% of all revenue comes from revenue sources OTHER than RESIDENTIAL property taxes (i.e., sales taxes, non-residential property taxes (minerals, commercial, agriculture, industrial, non-minerals), motor vehicle taxes, state grants, federal grants, investment income, etc.).
The other 8.7% of county revenues come from RESIDENTIAL property taxes.
How many average families have to adjust their budgets every year by 8.7%?
Furthermore, county revenues have increased 54% from FY19-24. The same 587,000 people have had to fund this 54% increase (because our population is growing). 40% of Wyomingites live on fixed income. How can these 40% fund 54% increases in county revenues?
How many families of four have seen their household incomes increase 54% over the last 6 years?
RESIDENTIAL property taxes have increased 73% from FY19 to FY24 ($379m to $656m). How many households have seen their household income increase 73% in the last 6 years?
If we are going to have an honest conversation, let’s at least base it in facts. Not in assumptions that are not based in any facts.
If you review the Department of Revenue reports on exemptions (graciously) provided by the Legislature, less than 2% of all residential property tax revenue is given back to residents. 2% doesn’t sound like a lot…
Regarding ‘skin in the game,’ Wyoming state and local governments (state, 23 counties, cities, towns, school districts and special districts) collected $87 BILLION in revenue. And spent $75.5 billion in expenditures. From FY19-24. $75.5 billion in expenditures = $519,510 in expenditures for each family of four in Wyoming. How many families of four believe they received $519,510 in state and local government goods and services from FY19-24?
A different way to look at it…state, counties, cities, towns, school districts, special districts collected $11.5 billion more in revenue ($87 – $75.5) than they expended. They took $11.5 billion from the private sector and put it into government cash reserve accounts. Do families of four wish they would have had $11.5 billion placed back in their savings accounts?
The state of Wyoming increased their revenue by 65% over the last 6 years.
Please stop saying (without facts) that we do not have skin in the game.
I can’t afford another 65% increase in state revenues and 54% increase in county revenues over the next 6 years.
Property taxes are not high enough now to dissuade speculation. We are much lower than other states. Nebraska for example.
I would really like to see more research and use of Land Value Taxes. If a guy was truly serious about the housing problem, just eliminate the ag exemption and raise land taxes until you force people to sell. It would be extremely disruptive of course… The govt would be picking a whole different group of winners and losers.
I doubt democrats are really interested in increasing economic efficiency, more likely just looking for ways to grow the public sector and gain more control over people. Although Mike might be the exception, he seems very genuine.
Excellent article! And on top of all of these, it would kill the Wyoming economy retail wise as it most certainly would be made up with a higher sales tax. So any retail business within an hour’s drive of any of Wyoming’s borders – you’re dead in the water. Why would I buy anything in Wyoming ever again?
Property taxes should be eliminated in every state! It’s immoral to think you pay for a property but never really own it! It makes us simply serfs to the state!
I think that property tax should be based on what you pay for your property not what the county thinks your property is worth this is a simple solution instead of having to fight every year with the county over values
With all due respect Mike, it doesnt have to be tax or not. How about lowering primary resident and agriculture Property tax. Say 15 – 20% while maintaining or small increase to 2nd or more and non residential properties. While increasing sales tax buy 1/2 penny. That way tourist help with our tax burden.
I agree! We passed a constitutional amendment to allow us to separately value primary residential from non-primary residential that I helped write. A bill to lower primary vs non-primary exists, and I would vote for it!
That is not what is being pushed right now though. What’s being pushed is something to benefit non-primary owners.
Lowering or eliminating property taxes on primary residences, while imposing them on nonprimary residential properties, would be the best solution, as the Representative stated. The rate could be increased substantially for each additional property owned, which would deter many people with disposable wealth from hoarding Wyoming properties. This, in itself, should help alleviate the affordable housing shortage by putting more houses on the market. The revenue produced could go towards creation of affordable housing for first time home buyers.
We already have big issues with out of state people moving here and either buying homes for astronomically high prices, or out of state real estate agents that get their license for Wyoming and then sell property and homes to their out of state contacts , make a killing and continue to price every day hard working folks out of ever being able to afford any kind of home, simply because of pure, unadulterated greed. And we can’t forget about realtors holding properties for friends and family because they can, regardless if a local resident is able to afford the home. There are real reasons why realtors are right up there with used car salesmen.
First, I do not support eliminating property taxes primarily because this state is already overly dependent on the mineral industries. You can argue what the true ratio is, but at the end of the day the people of this state have reaped the reward of low taxes via mineral royalties for over 50 years. Taxes are an necessary evil to have good roads, safe communities, communities people want to live in. But it is also incumbent upon government to be good stewards of our resources.
Second, part of the housing problem in this state is regulation, often unnecessary, often misapplied. Cheyenne is a good example. The construction industry and developers have told both the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County for years the problems, costs and restrictions with the Unified Development Code – to no avail. City leaders talk a good game about supporting affordable housing while at the same time imposing more fees, regulations and restrictions.
However, housing supply has finally grown so tight that the City related and started to relax the UDC – Mayor Collins is quoted as saying “I think we are going to see the largest number of building permits for housing since the UDC was established.” And then added, after a few more details “It’s just incredible,” he said. “A lot of the work we did we are starting to see developers taking advantage of it.” It’s not incredible, it’s government getting out of the way.
Third, some communities this this state have done a really good job of utilizing the 5th and 6th penny to support community infrastructure projects – both needed and wish list. We risk the loss of support for those voter approved increments when sales taxes become 8-9%.
Until we can fund the operations of the State of Wyoming without being dependent of the roller coaster of the minerals industry, any change in current tax structure of the State is going to create a reckoning the State Leaders in the future more than likely will be unable resolve.
There has to be a affordable alternative to the forever rising property taxes. I am 76 years young, live on a limited income(below poverty level), and person ally could better control my spending than paying forever rising property taxes. Needless to say, I am in favor of eliminating property taxes as I am sure most if not all the elderly in Wyoming are.
If you are 76 and have lived in Wyoming for most of your life and on limited income, you are likely eligible for at least three programs on the books right now that basically wipe most of your property tax. Reach out to your assessor if you haven’t used them. We don’t want any senior to get kicked out of their home due to property taxes.
The biggest beneficiary of removing property tax completely will be the richest among us.
I dont agree, legislation proposed for eliminating property taxes could be worded to eliminate out of state investors, state property tax exemption be limited those inhabiting there property and property used for agriculture in one form or another. Also have an income based element that does not exempt the ultra wealthy from said tax, if we are cutting taxes…lets cut them for those in need and not worry about the wealthy. To replace this lost revenue……a general across the board increase in taxes on everything in small increments could work. Dont raise taxes on any one thing much….rather spread it out thinly so no real pain or sacrifice occurs, I feel if there is a real will to accomplish this it could be done. Money could be put in general fund and could be earmarked for specific programs, state agencies, schools, and whatever else depends on property tax revenue that was lost. Where there is a will…there is a way !
Who elected the Freedom Caucus– carpetbaggers for the wealthy? Who invited the fox into the henhouse? Stop drinking the Kool-aid, Wyoming. Stop being toadies for wannabe dictators.
Good job, Mike!
Mr. Yin makes a great argument for keeping our property taxes.
However, a solution: Tax the non-residents only. And bare land only.
Taxes on the value of land are progressive because richer people own most land.
On the other hand, taxes houses, are regressive, as the poor spend a greater percentage of their income on housing.
So it might be OK to eliminate the property tax on resident homeowners, including those who rent those homes out.
It’s complicated.
Excellent points. The half-baked effort to tear down the state’s revenue structure could ruin our way of life. I wish others in the state legislature were as thoughtful as Mr. Yin.
Well done Mike, your point makes a lot of sense, straight forward and a great position to augment the broader conversation on property tax supply-side revenue. I’m also looking forward to the debates teasing out details on the fiscal demand-side. Theoretically, every school would benefit having an olympic sized swimming pool, but would that provide the best bang for the limited bucks available to educate our kids, if you know what I mean.
2025 saw somewhere around 6-7% average reduction of total gross revenues to our counties/munies given back to the residential property holders via targeted residential property tax reductions per DOR data. There was lots of noise from the munies forced to deal with the lost revenue. Understood. But from a Statewide budgeting perspective, 2025 had no Supplemental funding, maybe around ~$700M saved, yet I haven’t heard much teeth gnashing on this reduction. I find this interesting to contemplate.
I have to say I never thought of this. I knew that no property taxes and higher sales tax would be bad, but I never thought of the land grab that could follow such a move. Thank you Mike for pointing out this possibility as well. We already have a problem of people buying houses and keeping them empty for AirBNBs but this would make that so much worse.
The FreeDumb Caucus keeps passing new things before the last things they passed have gotten out of the gate. Slow down and see how things work out before trying to “fix” it again.
It is going to take a huge effort to stop the elimination of property taxes. Most will only see it as relief and not the loss of revenue to repair our streets, pay our deputies, provide fire protection, run our schools.
If there is no money to pay for essential services, our communities will deteriorate.
It would take a 14 percent sales tax increase to bring in the same revenue. Who wants that or will even vote for it.
I hope it is merely ignorance of the part of the proponents instead of mean punitive behavior.
I agree to a certain extent. However, residential property taxes in Wyoming are to high and need to be reduced to an equitable level. Base the tax rate on home size, not perceived market value. Make that tax rate / sqft equal across the entire state. Eliminate residential property tax for citizens over 65 years old. Next step – home owners insurance. Wyoming is a low fire risk state relative to the rest of the western US however state government is doing nothing to reign in insane insurance premiums. Wyoming home owners are being forced to pay to backstop out of state high risk properties. Wyoming state legislature needs to stop worrying about bathrooms, hemp and reproductive rights and start focusing on the economy.
This is a matter of great concern! Thank you for speaking up so strongly. We need you and more reasonable representatives and senators in our legislature.
Right on Mike! Well said.
I totally agree with you Mike Yin. This is an insane idea to end
property taxes in Wyoming. The elected officials who thought this was a good idea need to be voted out.
Who is Wyoming for? Well, America is now a country that is run by a few oligarchs. A very few people have most of the wealth. Where did they get their wealth? From us, middle class America. What is our government doing about it? More harm. Our Presidents cabinet is filled with millionaires and billionaires. I heard a report that the Trump org. profit has soared 1600% during his presidency. How much has your wealth increased? Eliminating property taxes would only widen the wealth gap.
Now do Nancy Pelosi and her families net worth after her tenure in DC. Clinton foundation Billions, Obama homes in Martha’s Vineyard and Hawaii Magnum PI estate etc.
Bipartisan corruption, Gordon. It ain’t one sided.
The USA needs a house cleaning and it isn’t just one party.
Trump is the worst.
Agreed. Trump needs a long prison term.
They ALL do.
Problem with partisan politics is that people turn a blind eye to what their party has done and is doing.
All the current “outrage” over Venezuelan boats by those that ignored thousands of Obama’s drone executions that went on for 8 years.
Our past 6 Presidents have been guilty of War Crimes, and all should have to answer for the millions of lives they have destroyed.
Chad, try to stick to what’s happening now. Pull yourself out of the upside down and look for results now.
Rep. Yin’s opinion should be given some careful consideration. But, supposing that the Legislature goes ahead with their proposal for 0 property tax, it would time for Wyoming to adopt a state income tax that is aimed at the well-to-do. Wyoming’s Constitution was amended to give taxpayers a credit of their property tax in the event that there were to be a future income tax in the state. So, Senators and Representatives go ahead, but just be fair upon whom the burden of supporting state services and institutions should justly fall.