God requires the rich pay their fair share

For years, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus has worked to give Wyoming’s richest residents tax breaks at the expense of the rest of us. 

As a Christian pastor, it is my job to share the teachings of Jesus Christ, the greatest of these being “to love the Lord your God… and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40). 

Loving our neighbors is not just sentimental — it takes shape in the policies and priorities we choose together. Creating a fair and sensible tax system is a moral issue because it is one concrete way we ensure our neighbors are cared for, our communities are strengthened and the common good is shared by all.

State taxes are the shared investments that make life better for all of us. They help fund our local public services like law enforcement, fire and emergency services, water and sewage systems, garbage collection, hospitals, parks and recreation, schools, libraries and infrastructure like roads and bridges. These services strengthen our economy and enable Wyomingites to thrive in the communities they love. 

In recent years, home values across Wyoming have risen, and with them, property tax assessments — although our historically low property taxes remain among the lowest in the nation. In the past, Wyoming lawmakers passed targeted, common-sense measures to address property tax increases, providing help to Wyoming veterans and seniors who were being unfairly impacted by these market changes. 

While those measures still strained funding for public services — especially education — they at least recognized the need to focus relief where it was actually needed. 

This sensible approach has now been abandoned. In 2025, after the Freedom Caucus took control of the Legislature, lawmakers instead passed sweeping, across-the-board property tax cuts. The negative consequences are already being felt. Across Wyoming, sheriffs and fire departments are struggling to afford adequate staffing and equipment. Schools and hospital districts face growing funding shortfalls. These cuts make our communities less safe and jeopardize our children’s futures.

Scripture repeatedly reminds us that we must use the resources we have not just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others in accordance with God’s will. This is why questions of taxation are not merely technical — they are moral. A fair tax system asks more of those who have gained the most, and uses resources wisely to benefit the whole of our community.  Veterans and seniors on fixed incomes don’t ask for special treatment; they ask for fairness. The goal should not be to lower everyone’s taxes regardless of circumstance, but to create a fair system that benefits and strengthens all of our communities. 

God gives us an incredible vision of what this looks like in Leviticus 25. The Jubilee Year was the Sabbath of Sabbaths — a year when debts were forgiven, land was redeemed and the economy got a reset. Jubilee reminds us that our resources are ultimately Gods — not our own — and that God wishes for those resources to be shared among the whole community, not concentrated in the hands of a few. Jubilee helps us see what loving our neighbors as ourselves can look like. 

The congregation I serve is based in Cheyenne, but my ministry regularly takes me across Wyoming — from visiting online worshipers, to meeting mission partners on the Wind River Reservation, to collaborating with colleagues throughout the Presbyterian Church. Through these travels, I have seen firsthand the stark differences in resources available to our local communities. Teton County, with its impressive vistas and vibrant tourism industry, is home to many of the state’s wealthiest residents. They are also the largest beneficiaries of the tax cuts, receiving the greatest tax benefits. Lest we forget Jesus warning to his disciples: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” (Luke 12:48). Our state tax system works to ensure that, regardless of where you call home, every Wyomingite receives high-quality public services.  

Across-the-board tax cuts do not strengthen our communities or increase housing affordability. What they do is concentrate wealth where it already exists. Instead, we need a state tax system that is fair, so that every hard-working Wyomingite in every community, from Teton to Campbell to Laramie County, enjoys high-quality public services. As Christians, we should all seek to make sure everyone pays their fair share.