As Wyoming lawmakers sought to provide homeowners with property tax relief in the past few years, new laws created a complicated web of exemptions, leaving some taxpayers confused and frustrated.
“Taxpayers often struggle to determine which exemptions they qualify for, when and how to apply and which forms are required,” Crook County Assessor Dan Thomas told a legislative committee Wednesday.
“As a result, we see misapplications, missed deadlines and a rising frustration, both from taxpayers and from the county offices working hard to assist them,” he told the Joint Revenue Committee at its meeting in Gillette, where he represented the Wyoming County Assessors’ Association.
“While each of these measures provides meaningful tax relief, taken together, they have introduced a significant level of confusion for taxpayers,” said Thomas, who asked for better communication in future decision-making.
No committee members objected to Thomas’ characterization of the Legislature’s work product. In fact, several agreed.
The committee’s solution to the property tax confusion the Legislature created? Abolish property taxes entirely.
“We need to shift to a new system,” Casper Republican Sen. Bob Ide said before bringing a motion to draft a bill repealing most of Article 15 of the Wyoming Constitution.
If passed by the Legislature and approved by voters, the proposal would eliminate all property taxes — residential, commercial, industrial and personal — which brought in $2 billion in revenue in the 2024 tax year. That’s more than any other tax stream in Wyoming.
The committee voted 11-3 in support of the motion. Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson, and Sens. Cale Case, R-Lander, and Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, were the three opposing votes.
“A sales tax is the only way we’re going to muck out all of this layered minutia of property taxes,” Ide said.
But such a sweeping change is how lawmakers got themselves in a pickle to begin with, Case told the committee.
“We’ve got complicated things on the books that we created — the people in this room created — and we’re mad about that. And that’s what happens when you throw bills out there, and vote on bills, and get the public behind them and then get them out and passed without really thinking of the ramifications,” Case said. “We need to study the topic first before we throw a resolution out to eliminate property taxes from the constitution.”
The committee also voted to modify two property tax exemptions already on the books, including repealing a sunset date for one and eliminating an owner-occupied requirement for another.
Property taxes do not fund state government. Instead, they pay for local services like county fire departments, K-12 education and transportation, senior centers, hospitals, water and sewer, community colleges, law enforcement, libraries and the construction or maintenance of roads and sidewalks.
As a result of recent property tax cuts, many local governments across the state are now facing revenue shortfalls.
“We’re struggling right now with what services we can maintain, or where we’re going to have to start cutting,” Weston County Commissioner Ed Wagoner told the committee, pointing to a $220,000 revenue loss this year.
Such a dip may be inconsequential to wealthier counties like Campbell, he said, but not Weston.
“Every county is different,” he said.
That type of unequal footing is reason enough to look at another system, Rep. Bob Wharff, R-Evanston, said.
“I’m leaning towards this. I think it’s a novel idea, and I think it’s something we need to look at, because I don’t know how we take something that’s already unequal,” Wharff said.
Relying more heavily on sales and use tax, Case said, won’t change the fact that there is simply an unequal distribution of where commerce occurs across the state.
“You would still have a distributional problem with a consumption tax,” he said. “Take Niobrara County, for example, and say, ‘All right, people, your county is going to be funded by consumption, and it’s the consumption that occurs in the county. There’s nothing there. There’s very little exchange.”
Storer also cautioned lawmakers that if the state shifts to sales and use, it would require quite a hike to make up the difference.
“We’re only collecting about $1.4 billion in sales and use tax currently,” Storer said. “So if you just do some quick math there, that means we’d at least probably be doubling our sales tax.”
Chairman Rep. Tony Locke, R-Casper, said he was uncertain where he stood on eliminating property taxes, but was interested in how it could ease the limitations of reforming property taxes within the confines of the state’s constitution.
“We constantly see this, ‘it’s unconstitutional, it’s constitutional’ when we try to make a change. So from that perspective, I want to see what this looks like,” Locke said.
The committee’s next meeting is Aug. 21 in Casper.
Eliminate property taxes for owners that have paid off their properties and are living in them. Keep property taxes for commercial and industrial. Raise the consumption tax to make up the difference. People that work their entire lives maintaining and paying off a mortgage SHOULD NOT BE PAYING PROPERTY TAXES. That’s the right thing to do.
Our sales tax was 3%, ‘optional 1cent’ elections have already doubled sales taxes over the years, and if the trend continues, sales taxes will keep going up with or without property taxes. Everyone that spends money pays sales tax, regardless of age, sex, income bracket, marital status etc., not just the property owners.
Property taxes should be unconstitutional because they stifle productivity, prosperity, and economic growth in the private sector. Landlords of residential & commercial properties are assessed property taxes on ‘unrealized’ gains of property values, as the values are increased the insurance increases with the taxes, the increases can only be absorbed so long, then the rents go up. When those rents go up, not only do residential tenants that have been priced out of purchasing face higher rents, but all the consumers and customers absorb the higher taxes and insurance through the costs of goods and services, and higher rents. The argument of sales taxes hurting lower income citizens doesn’t hold up to the argument of those same People paying hundreds more in rents, services, and costs of goods. Renters and property owners are all paying more, and our government is spending more! The money the government is taking from the People is not coming back to benefit the People equivalently resulting in the government controlling more of the earned incomes of citizens than the People themselves. If the government spending was benefitting the People, a huge portion of the $35+Billions the state has in reserves would be in the private sector growing the wealth of the citizens, as it should be! The wealthier the private sector the more money they will spend, sales tax revenues generated will increase and the government AND the People will be more prosperous. The government is supposed to work for the People not the People working to support the government!
The People should not ‘rent’ what they have already purchased, People should not face being homeless when they have purchased homes, thousands of citizens in this state, tenants & homeowners, face homelessness due to property taxes and increased costs of living. While the citizens suffer, the Wyoming Business Council ‘grants’ millions, lots of millions to billionaires and out of state corporations that don’t result in projects that benefit our communities, it seems to me that maybe those excise taxes aren’t being invested wisely, and could help offset the losses from eliminating unjust, unfair, inhumane property taxes!
Eliminating taxes is not a problem, government prioritizing of the spending of the People’s money is the problem!
Thank you Senator Ide, and supporters for pushing this legislation to amend the constitution to eliminate property taxes, it is the right thing to do!
The increase in sales tax needed to cover the lost revenue will be enormous. Spending will move out of state. The inequities across counties will be tremendous.
And it will be incredibly regressive. It will hurt the rural parts of the state and the lower income residents of the state. Really an bad idea. The current crop of legislators are sacrificing Wyoming’s future. They want to eliminate WY sovereign wealth fund and stop contributing to it. Do they not realize that mineral tax revenue will not last forever. The sovereign wealth fund will soften the blow and help fill that gap when it happens. But these carpet baggers don’t care about WY or its future. They want to cash out like WY is an ATM. WY residents already pay a small portion of public services (about 30% or so). Is that not enough free-riding? You want to pay for 0%? This is anti-development, and it doubles down on what has been holding WY back all these decades. Paying zero taxes when it makes us a poor state is not smart.
To Chuck Davis and others. In 2023 total taxes paid into Wyoming by oil gas industry alone was $2.3 BILLION. TOTAL PROPERTY TAXES PAID IN WYOMING WAS $2.3 BILLION! This doesn’t include other minerals. Just oil/gas taxes. $4123 in taxes for every man, woman, child of Wyoming paid in by oil gas taxes. Property taxes should NOT be as high as they are. Feel free to counter those numbers Mr. Davis. Let’s hear your democrat party point of view.
limiting property taxes would be beneficial to the RESIDENTS of wyoming. eliminating them entirely would not. you continue to cheerlead alt-right nonsense and get offended when others don’t agree with you. if your posting history has shown anything, it certainly isn’t that you are well-versed or knowledgeable.
you claim you have a “cabin” in the state. you are no different than the part-time teton county residents that you and all other angry maga folks rail against. you don’t have a dog in the fight. stay in your colorado or south dakota lane.
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And, so, they want to sink us further into the mire of stupidity.
If they mess with the constitution it will get rid of all property tax and the mineral tax
If people cannot figure out the older property tax rebated all they had to do is call there local county treasurer or the county accessors office. Fill out a form which they will help you with and it’s done (unfortunately they have missed the deadline). I have got a rebate for the past three years.
Same thing with the most recent adjustments.
I think the biggest thing was they were passed, but they were not advertised well. Either that or people just want to sit on their butt and do nothing.
After the first year’s rebate, I got a letter every year from the treasurers office, reminding me to get the paperwork done
Here’s an idea. Let’s wait until the newest bill takes affect to see what happens to revenue. I can tell you now it’s gonna be bad. But increasing sales tax is even worse. In increasing sales tax will hurt the people with less money than it will the rich people
We call it the free dumb caucus for a reason. Next election, please pay attention to what these people say and vote against them..
It’s not nearly the gloom and doom that wyofile makes it sound like. Eliminate the property tax for primary residences only. Keep it on industrial and commercial properties and don’t allow the billionaires in Jackson to skirt the law on their mansions that they spend 2 weeks a year in. The impact would be minimal and a sales tax increase of 1 percent would cover it. They just need to rewrite a couple laws.
BINGO!
The Richest county in the entire nation should have no problem with this. Helping the less fortunate among us, all of us.
47% of homes in Jackson are barely lived in more than a few months a year.
How much of this is the result of Teton County billionaires dark money that gets sent to Washington, etal, to send propaganda and marching orders back to Wyoming.
Counties in Wyoming get most of their funding from property taxes. What will they propose to not bankrupt the counties. Municipalities get most of their funding from sales tax. Sounds like Wyoming is following Trump strategies.
If this passes day goodbye to small businesses located within a 100 miles of any other state. Why? Because this will mean a huge increase in the Sales Tax encouraging people to shop where things will be much cheaper.
Montana has no sales tax. Small businesses in northern Wyoming are already losing millions of dollars in revenue because people travel to Billings, MT to shop. Our sales tax would have to more than double to make up the difference.
I thought there was a referendum for a constitutional amendment that would make a 50% deduction in residential property taxes permanent that was approved by the Secretary of State’s office that would be voted on in 2026. Where does this fit in? Does WyoFile know if indeed there will be a vote on this amendment?
Wow. Just, wow. The math….and then this mountain of hubris comes crashing down! Seriously? Even the small town free-dumb people have zero idea who pays for what. Just none. We just absolutely must cut our nose off to spite our face because the liberals run the world! And off they run?? Great. No tax and all spend. Like a teenager.
The state legislature is as goofed up as trump and his misfit acolytes. Bob Ide is one of the worst.
If memory serves right, wasn’t there a legislator who stated that with the lack of funds it did not matter if the small towns dried up as they are not needed. Funding for all towns matter if a person lives there or does business there
Is the tax on alcohol still at 2 percent. Would raising it to the level charged in each county help provide services in those counties?
Eliminating the property tax and replacing it by increasing the sales tax is about as regressive a tax system as one could imagine. Obviously the rich in Wyoming are suffering mightily and the poor have more money than they know what to do with. Leave it to the Freedumb Party to come up with these schemes.
Wyoming should not have property taxes. There long been enough mineral royalties paid that would eliminate property taxes. It just political mafia can’t control their spending
Lobby for that in your home state of colorado Larry. As you can see, wyoming has reached its quota of clowns. We don’t need more
Well. Chuck. I fully understand why you don’t want any more clowns in Wyoming. Some one may push you out of the lead spot. But Colo takes all our mineral taxes and spends it on homeless and illegal migrants. Costs a lot to feed and house them. I think Denver city spends around $600 million a year. Only roads/streets that now get fixed is hiways that lead to ski resorts. But really if all these states managed their mineral taxes/put pot taxes in as well. We shouldn’t have property taxes. All states need DOGE. But main question Chuck. Why are you not in support of it? Puzzling..
Chuck. I will tell you one more time. I own land/cabin in Wyoming. I pay taxes there. I also am involved in mineral extraction in the state. I know full well what the mineral extraction industry pays in total taxes. There absolutely no reason we have the high property taxes we have. So you got that Dude. Plus i will speak my mind when ever—however I feel it necessary. Only authoritarians like Democrats want to keep others QUITE. I REFUSE TO KEEP QT!! Got it now Dude? TKS have wonderful day
WY residents (or landowners) pay a small portion of the public services they receive. Such free-loading behavior is why WY is underdeveloped and will continue to die on the vine. It’s idiotic to use revenue from severance taxes to fund current needs. It’s smart to put most of the revenue in a sovereign wealth fund because the resources will not provide that revenue forever. And when there is no more revenue from taxes, a wealth fund will soften the blow. The problem is WY is use to getting public services without paying for them. Asking to get them without paying anything is irresponsible.
No state in the country has eliminated property tax – there is probably a really good reason for this! They (Freedom Caucus) are so short sighted and just like the Trump administration – when “things are hard and complicated” lets just get rid of it instead of taking the time to understand it and make rational decisions to fix it for the long term.
Unintentional consequences with eliminating property taxes are real. Not only will communities be adversely affected but our “low tax” lifestyle in general. I foresee increased sales taxes; the sale tax on food items returning; a sales tax on services; a sales tax on prescription drugs and medical supplies; and many of our current sales tax exemptions being overturned. ( https://wyoleg.gov/InterimCommittee/2021/03-2021092904-01Currentsalestaxexemptions.pdf ) . Sadly, I can even see a state income tax to offset the loss of property tax.
Just some things to think about. We need to remember that this money has to be made up somewhere. Contact your legislators.
Property tax has been a thorn since 2002 when I ran for the office governor My suggestion was a service tax. Next; why not remove seniors from roles to pay Property taxes especially when throughout years those Wyomlng residents made good to execute all payments to pay their properties off? Might look at South Dakota service tax revenues on a service taxes? Also look at the revenues not being collected throughout ordinances within Wyoming cities especially those incorporated. Twice I have approached the Wyoming Transportation Department with speeding conditions within the Town of Elk Mountain on highway 72. For a span of history that covers 27 years. Currently on June 3rd I spoke to Carbon County Commissioner’s. Why; I showed them the revenues this town has lost from 24 May till 1st of June. Grand total with no fines from Wyomlng Highway patrol law enforcement or title 31of Satutes under Wyomlng Constitution. Excuse is not enough officers maybe those Legislators should talk to the Governor who appointed that those Commissioners?
What A mess all because the non-free-Dumb caucus wanted to sound like they were doing something and yet they do not have a clue.
Who could have seen this coming
This fire-ready-aim approach to dealing with the property tax issue by a constitutional amendment that eliminates all property taxes is not the way to go. Eliminating the property tax is possible, but replacing it requires comprehensive tax reform, political consensus, and careful planning to avoid destabilizing essential public services. It’s a major structural change that must be approached cautiously. It does not appear that the members on the legislative committee who voted for the motion considered what would replace the major loss of revenue to our local governments. Coming up with replacements requires legislation to increase existing taxes or implementing new taxes, such as an income tax. The voters will want to know what revenue streams are in place before they will vote to eliminate the property tax. But for those “no new taxes” members in the Legislature, this will be a difficult nut to crack.
Sadly Rex, I don’t think the majority of voters in Wyoming will give a second thought to how the revenue stream will be replaced. They will just see “no property tax” and vote for it. If they truly gave serious consideration to issues like this, they would not have elected so many people to the Legislature who have no idea how government works or how it is funded.
Well said Mr. Arney. Reality is the property tax means no matter how long or how hard you have worked, you NEVER OWN YOUR HOME. PERIOD. Without property tax your home could still have a lien placed against it, namely by medical providers, or banks or name more….
Having said that, it is a shame that the government, city, county can foreclose on your life labor.
So, no corporate tax or scrutinizing existing out flows of tax revenue. Amazing, on all accounts of tax revenue rarely is there an approach to conservation.
so, people that have property here and live in other states get services without paying for them they leave the rest of too subsidized their life that’s rich.
Unbelievable, where do we get these clowns. Yes, the current exemptions are difficult to navigate, but it can be done. I vote for simplicity, not elimination. And leave the owner occupied exemption alone……we should get some kind of break for putting up with all the nonsense that comes out of our legislature.
Only in Wyoming. Bizarre
I actually like property taxes, precisely because everyone hates them. You see your government bill and have to whip out a pen to pay it. Unfortunately everyone fighting for taxes just wants a bigger government. Ideally they would be on value of land not on improvements, with no exemptions… including agriculture or nonprofits, churches, the elderly, veterans, the government itself. Eliminate all other taxes… Is anyone still happy with the proposal? Worst politician ever.
Glad to see that there are at least a few adults in the room (Storer, Case and Pappas), hopefully they can convince the children in the room to think this through and do the math before they start messing with the current system. I am not saying we should not change. I am saying if they wave their hands and start changing things, it will probably cause more problems than is solves. It costs money to run a government, and the money has to come from somewhere.