Editor’s note:
This story was jointly reported and authored by the Gillette News Record, Jackson Hole News&Guide, Powell Tribune, The Sheridan Press, Wyoming Tribune Eagle and WyoFile. Reporting was coordinated and compiled by WyoFile, with editing from all participating publications.
Park County’s real estate market caught fire amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as people from around the country flocked to this rural refuge. Buyers snapped up properties and sent the median sale price for a single-family home rocketing from $286,000 in 2020 to $415,000 in 2022.
As values soared, the average homeowner in this northwestern Wyoming county saw their tax bills jump over 60% in three years.
“Taxpayers tell me, ‘We don’t mind paying our fair share of property taxes,’” Park County Assessor Terry Call told the local Republican Party in January. “The problem for all of us taxpayers is the past few years haven’t been fair at all.”
State lawmakers heard homeowners’ concerns and responded with new and expanded tax breaks. This year, Wyoming’s property tax revenue shrank by about $250 million — with the Department of Revenue attributing roughly 80% of that drop, $198.5 million, to relief bills passed in 2024 and 2025. Funding collected for K-12 education dropped by $185 million, while special districts are receiving $12.7 million less than last year.
“Overall, people have been real appreciative of the exemptions.”
Terry Call, Park County Assessor
In Park County, the local school districts, county and city governments, community college, hospitals, fire departments, cemeteries and other special districts will collect about $61 million in property taxes this year. That’s down from the record $76.3 million assessed in 2023, though still up from the roughly $45 million billed in 2021.
Call has heard a handful of taxpayers express worries about how the recent reductions will impact schools and other government services, but, he said last month, “very few have said they’re not going to take the exemption because of their concerns.”
“Overall, people have been real appreciative of the exemptions,” Call said.
The state’s one-size-fits-all approach to property tax relief is playing out with notably different results, depending on the county and government entity. Some communities haven’t experienced much belt tightening, or they’ve found creative ways to collect replacement revenue. But others are eyeing cuts to everything from road maintenance to public safety to elections.
A few hundred miles to the south, in Carbon County, Sue Jones isn’t taking a property tax exemption that saved her $380 last year. As a county commissioner, Jones is witnessing the kind of cuts that resulted from putting that $380 back in her pocket.
Ostensibly, the property tax cuts are designed to prevent Wyoming residents from having to pay more in annual costs, Jones said. But cutting property taxes has come at the expense of access to services like the library, museum and senior center in her county.
Wyoming’s tax system, Jones said, “might need a little tweaking now and again, but you don’t just cut the legs out from under it. That’s pretty much what’s happened, and it’s a ripple effect.”
The outlier
During a Joint Revenue Committee meeting in Gillette this spring, Campbell County Commissioner Scott Clem took the mic to critique the Legislature’s aggressive, and often confusing, approach to property taxes. Clem served in the state’s House of Representatives from 2015 to 2020. Now a county commissioner, he has serious misgivings about this year’s property tax cuts, even though his county has been insulated from the pain.
Much of Campbell County’s property tax haul comes from mineral property taxes, with coal, oil and gas production making up about 78% of the county’s roughly $4.8 billion in assessed valuation, or taxable value.
Less reliant on residential property taxes than other counties, the Campbell County Commission passed a $145 million budget this fiscal year, nearly identical to last year’s. The Gillette City Council approved a $151 million budget, similar to the previous year. And the Campbell County School District passed a $323 million budget, a 4% increase that included the largest year-over-year jump in teacher pay in years.
“We in Campbell County, in particular, we’re just an outlier because of our mineral wealth,” Clem said.
Campbell County has seen its assessed valuation — its taxable value of all properties that determines the value of a mill levy — drop over the last few years as coal production continues to decline. Since 2016, when hundreds of coal miners were laid off, local governments have reduced their workforce through attrition and built up reserves in case the economic bottom falls out. As long as coal is being mined, that will continue to keep property taxes lower for everybody in Campbell County, Clem said.
‘Hardship’ counties
Other counties aren’t so fortunate.
Earlier this year, lawmakers considered, but ultimately rejected proposals to backfill local government budgets for eight so-called “hardship” counties. Big Horn, Crook, Goshen, Hot Springs, Niobrara, Platte, Washakie and Weston raise the lowest amount of revenue from property taxes among the state’s 23 counties. With no money from the state to make up for cuts, Big Horn County has responded to the drop in funds by imposing a hiring freeze.
“We’ll suffer the effects of this for years to come,” Big Horn County Commissioner Bruce Jolley said.
“At [some] point, you give up these services. You give up that road that we tried to keep nice for you.”
Bruce Jolley, Big Horn County Commissioner
Some of Big Horn County’s roughly 65 employees could be laid off in coming years to offset lost revenue. Although commissioners hope to avoid such job cuts, Jolley said, that could lead to further reductions in other areas, such as the county fair and emergency services.
The county commission also slashed its library budget from $350,000 the previous fiscal year to $280,000. In response, the library system cut employee benefits, trimmed operating hours and closed branches in Frannie and Deaver.
This year, Jolley doesn’t expect the county to be able to afford to crush gravel, and after an October rainstorm washed away some roads, the county’s gravel stockpile will shrink. Asphalt roads could also suffer, raising costs if maintenance is deferred to the point roads need to be replaced.
“I’m glad people are getting cuts on their property tax, I’m glad that people are getting a break,” Jolley said. “But, at [some] point, you give up these services. You give up that road that we tried to keep nice for you.”
Unfunded mandates?
One hardship county, Goshen, now has less money to respond to new laws passed by the Legislature that require more labor. Following the raft of property tax relief measures, Goshen suffered a nearly $2.6 million drop in tax dollars collected for various local budgeting entities.
In response, county departments were asked to cut budgets by 8.25%. For Assessor Debbi Surratt, that meant eliminating a position her office had been trying to fill.
“It gets a little bit tough in counties like ours, where we have no minerals,” Surratt said. “We are pretty reliant just on our taxpayers to keep things going.”
To avoid cutting staff in her department, County Clerk Mary Feagler looked to consolidate and transition from 11 polling places to three voting centers, saving her office around $30,000, or 20%, per election cycle. But community pushback prompted county commissioners to nix the idea and ask Feagler to try to cut staff before closing polling locations. Feagler, however, said she doesn’t have staff she could get rid of, especially with an election year approaching.
These challenges are arriving just as the workload is increasing due to stricter election laws passed this year. The new statewide measures require voters to provide proof of state residency and U.S. citizenship upon registration, adding more work for county clerks and election staff. The change requires more training for election judges, too. Judges must feel confident turning away voters, even their neighbors, if the voters fail to provide necessary ID, she said.
Replacing precinct-by-precinct polling locations with vote centers would have both cut costs and increased her office’s ability to enforce the new rules, Feagler said. Secretary of State Chuck Gray said he “strongly opposed” the change in a September statement, and the county commission there ultimately voted to reject the proposal.
“There was a notion that property tax was going to the state, and it goes to local governments.”
Gov. Mark Gordon
The true hardship from declining revenues, Surratt anticipates, will be felt over the next couple of years, when commissioners must make even tougher decisions about services.
“The Legislature should do a better job of looking for other sources, not just putting a Band-Aid on it, and the [property tax] exemptions are just a Band-Aid,” Surratt said. “All they’ve done is muddied the water.” Exemptions are often confusing for taxpayers to navigate, Surratt added.
Gov. Mark Gordon touched on the cascading impacts during an October town hall in Lander.
“You’re hearing out of Casper that parks aren’t as neat as they used to be. You’re hearing out of Basin, we’re having to close libraries,” Gordon told the audience. “And these consequences are going to be larger and larger.”
What’s especially unfortunate, the governor said, is that many people misunderstood how property taxes are levied and allocated.
“There was a notion that property tax was going to the state,” he said, “and it goes to local governments. It’s how fire departments are funded, it’s how parks are funded, it’s how roads are funded, senior centers, all of that stuff is funded from local taxes.”
Gordon remembers that even a legislator on the powerful Joint Appropriations Committee appeared confused when he said: “The state doesn’t need that property tax.”
About 72% of property taxes this year went to public education — both K-12 schools and community colleges — with the rest earmarked for county and city levies and special districts for services such as road and bridge work, sewer lines, firefighting, recreation, museums and libraries, according to a Department of Revenue report released this year.
Gordon worries that “by cutting ourselves so close to the bone,” the state is stripping away extra layers of protection that could insulate it if the economy sours.
More room to cut
In more flush counties, where soaring property values pinched longtime homeowners, elected leaders would like deeper cuts.
Powell City Councilman Troy Bray — who wants to see the elimination of all residential property taxes — believes the 25% exemption has helped local residents stay in their homes while causing little impact to governments.
The new exemptions and a 4% cap saved Powell taxpayers $101,500 this year. With an overall budget of around $25.6 million, Bray called the reduction an “almost inconsequential” percentage for the city.
In the 2026 election, Wyoming voters will decide on a ballot resolution to cut residential property taxes by 50% — which would be in addition to the 25% exemption already on the books, according to the Legislative Service Office. Bray believes a 50% exemption wouldn’t have a substantial impact on governments, either, contending there are always places to cut before touching necessary services like police and fire departments.
“I refer to them as the Chicken Littles of the world, you know, ‘The sky is falling.’ “
Troy Bray, Powell City Council
Bray doesn’t heed the lobbyists and politicians talking about how “horrible” the effects of property tax relief efforts will be.
“I refer to them as the Chicken Littles of the world, you know, ‘The sky is falling,’” Bray said. “Guess what? The sky didn’t fall.”
The impacts in Park County have been uneven, as some entities are much more dependent on property taxes than others.
The Park County government missed out on $2.18 million as a result of the tax relief, according to the assessor’s figures. County commissioners reduced their spending on roads and bridges and cut grants to outside agencies to help balance the $37.6 million budget.
At the Park County Weed and Pest District, the legislative relief reduced revenue by about $182,000 within a $2.38 million budget. That’s about a 7.5% hit.
Overall, the district plans to spend about $600,000 less than it did last year. Among other cuts, Weed and Pest Supervisor Josh Shorb said they slashed a seasonal weed-spraying crew from 12 to eight members, stopped spraying weeds along county roads and ended their support of a hazardous waste collection day.
The district also reduced incentives to landowners and farmers to spray for weeds and pests. For example, instead of covering half the cost of herbicides targeting Canada thistle and Russian knapweed, the district dropped its share to 30%. The district also ended a $2-per-acre subsidy that helped sugar beet growers battle the beet leafhopper and reduced a subsidy for fall field spraying from $10 to $7 per acre.
“We really pulled our horns in. Had to,” Shorb said.
The pullback is relative, as the district will still receive about $225,000 more in property taxes than it did in 2021, before Park County’s big surge in home values.
Shorb said the tax bump allowed the district to expand its cost share programs, catch up on deferred building maintenance and replace aging vehicles and rental equipment. Another chunk was eaten up by inflation, he said, with wages, insurance, trucks and ATVs all rising in cost. In some cases, “it was like ‘dollar in, dollar out’ almost,” Shorb said.
He worries that further tax cuts will cause the district to miss invasive weeds like medusahead, ventenata or Palmer amaranth, or leave it unable to respond to an outbreak.
“I’ve been in this job for 25 years, and this has been the most stressful year by far,” Shorb said, noting additional cuts at the federal level. “All I think about is, ‘How am I going to pay for this? How are we going to do this? What are our priorities?’”
In Teton County, where soaring property values also filled county coffers, the current belt tightening has county commissioners hesitating on building a new morgue. When Dr. Brent Blue needs to move a body from the operating table to refrigerator storage at the Teton County morgue, he uses a jerry-rigged hospital lift fitted with zip ties and climbing webbing to hoist the body bag.
It’s one of many challenges the coroner faces because of the lackluster facility. A repurposed two-car garage previously used by Teton County Weed and Pest, the morgue didn’t have a drain until 2016. The coroner had to squeegee blood and tissue from autopsies out into the driveway.
“This place was literally toxic,” Blue said during a recent tour. “It still pretty much is.”
The coroner asked county commissioners for $270,000 to start designing and planning a new morgue, which will cost millions to build. Commissioners balked given budget challenges, but ultimately agreed to spend an initial $95,000 on the project.
Overall, Teton County’s general fund lost $6 million in revenue from property tax exemptions in 2025. The county’s loss accounted for just 14% of the total $44 million in tax revenue, spread across a variety of tax collecting entities, exempted for Teton County residential property owners. The Elk Refuge Sewer District saw the smallest hit, losing $33, while public school education accounts combined took a nearly $34 million hit. Other large revenue losses included $2.3 million for the hospital, $767,150 for Teton County Weed and Pest and $205,437 for the fire district serving the Teton Village ski resort.
Other counties, like Sheridan and Park, responded to reductions in revenue by imposing hiring freezes. Sheridan County also spent about $1.26 million from its cash reserves and slashed spending by up to 20% in each department to make up for an estimated $1.3 million in lost property tax revenue.
A mixed bag
In Cheyenne and Laramie County, business growth is helping stabilize budgets, but also straining public safety services typically funded by property taxes.
This year, the city of Cheyenne annexed a business park, which completely offset a potential loss of $1.8 million in tax revenue. Laramie County has yet to make any major changes or staff cuts so far, as well.
However, the Laramie County Fire Authority is facing a roughly $500,000 reduction in its operating budget this year, down to about $1.77 million. The cut forced Fire Chief Jason Caughey to place all capital projects and equipment replacement on hold. The reduced budget must now strictly cover salaries and maintain the existing fleet and eight stations.
Caughey warned that further cuts could reduce 365-day staffing at three stations to only one.
As a special district, the firefighting service is funded solely through property taxes and receives no sales tax revenue. The district’s ability to levy taxes is restricted by a state statute written in 1947 that sets fire protection at three mills. (For each mill assessed, Wyomingites pay $9.50 for every $100,000 their property is worth.) Though this part of the statute has not been updated since, Caughey said fire apparatus costs have tripled since 2013, and Laramie County’s services have expanded to include things like emergency medical services.
Since 2011, the fire district’s call volume has more than quadrupled, rising from approximately 450 calls in 2011 to a projected 1,950 calls this year, with 72% of current calls being for medical services.
At the same time, Cheyenne and Laramie County are leaning on new solar and wind farms and massive data centers to backfill lost revenue from property tax relief. But Caughey said his department lacks funding to support the specialized training required to handle emergencies at such facilities.
“Those are very large facilities that have inherent risks associated with them,” he said. “Those weren’t there over the last 30, 40, 50 years.”
Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins described the impact of the tax cuts as an “opportunity loss” of $1.8 million that prevented the city from hiring essential personnel, including additional firefighters, police officers and street maintenance staff. As demand for city services grows, the city needs more money, not less, to fund those services, he said.
‘It adds up’
Carbon County is enormous — nearly 8,000 square miles encompassing everything from ranches near the Colorado state line to Saratoga’s outdoorsy attractions along the North Platte River to Rawlins on Interstate 80, some 150 miles west of Cheyenne.
In a county that large, there are a lot of services. So when Carbon County faced a property tax revenue drop of more than $900,000, Commissioner Jones said, she and other county commissioners had to make difficult cuts.
Counties are statutorily mandated to fund services such as road maintenance and the operation of a county jail, which leaves certain items off the chopping block. But the commissioners and staff chipped away where they could. They reduced courthouse operating hours, left positions vacant and went without magnesium chloride treatment on roads for dust abatement.
The commission also imposed major cuts on what it calls outside agencies, which includes services it’s not mandated to fund. That meant eliminating funding for economic development, slashing the library system budget by 53% and making painful cuts to senior services and the museum.
Jones felt there was confusion about what property taxes actually fund. After seeing the impact firsthand, she’s opting to decline the tax exemption that saved her $380 — a small gesture to show that the services her tax dollars support are valuable, she said.
“I also live in a fire district, in a school district, in a soil conservation district, in the weed and pest district,” she said. “I have family buried in the cemetery district. I have a local library. I have a local senior center. Seven things that my little $380, with everybody else’s, pays for.
“I think, for those seven things and my $380, I’m getting a really good deal.”
Constituents have asked Jones if they should also decline the exemption, she said, and her answer is that they have every right to claim it.
“By all means, take it. It’s there,” she said. “But if you don’t, and you care about libraries and law enforcement, weed and pest districts, fire districts and even cemetery districts, it adds up.”
While we debate the complex subjects of property taxes and how to best fund community services, we should also take note of the importance of receiving clear and accurate information on these topics. Big kudos to WyoFile and all the other contributing journalists for coordinating this really excellent piece of journalism. We are extremely fortunate to have such an outstanding home grown non-profit media resource in our state.
We’re watching a decline in Wyoming of the richness of our lives and our economy. It’s nice to get a break from the lower property taxes. But the result is that the budgets for the services that we receive (education, health, safety, etc.) are now being cut back for lack of funds. With less services, we don’t need as many employees to provide them. Personnel layoffs. That’s the way it works – or doesn’t.
Property tax well I’D have to say this county Carbon County does a very bad on collecting real revenes besides Property taxes. Last month our business placed $397.00 in sales taxes for the 3rd quarters earnings. I appeared in front of this Carbon County Commission unannounced to address their meeting about revenes specificly not address. One was public Safety known as law enforcement under Title 31 in the Wyoming constitution, law enforcement on City, County, State Highways has no enforcement. I have lived and run a business directly in front of Wyomlng Highway 72, for now going into 28yrs. During their meeting l once again stressed our small community fails to collect revenues. Throughout Title 31 how by recording speeding on the highway. I honestly showed them just one month which was June. Just 1hr to 4hrs as if on patrol. That month alone produced $2,300.00. Why mention this now in 28 years l haven’t seen one ticket given on this highway. Yet this community holds a budget proceeding $5 million dollars for a 150 people population. If this funding was enforced Throughout all eleven communities justice is served to reduce taxes.
Some counties have the resources, others do not and it is unfortunate some counties are being hit hard. However, it would be nice if the media spent at least a little time digging into the numbers and not just the sob story some of these more well economically diversified counties want to portray. Numbers tell the story not just political spin.
The governor uses the cut backs at Casper parks as an example as one of the impacts of property relief. Did anybody look to see that Casper has had revenues exceeding expenses of $20 mil the last two years – 2023 and 2024? 2025 is not available yet. Property taxes only make up 8% to 11% of the total tax revenue of Casper from 2022 to 2024. And the parks cannot be taken care of because of the property tax relief?
Laramie County reserves have grown from $40 mil 5 years ago to close to $100 mil. Even the City of Cheyenne – which is good at spending money on studies that never get implemented – saw their property tax revenues grow from $8.6 mil to $11.7 from 2021 to 2024 while their unrestricted cash and investments went from $105 mil to $175 mil over the same time frame? Yet we never have enough money unless we need to study something.
While I applaud the more economically diversified counties for tucking money away for a rainy day – and those communities at the same time investing in themselves to reap the reward of economic development – I find it ironic that the City of Cheyenne loses $1.8 mil that is a lost opportunity or Casper cannot take care of parks with growing balance sheet? What about the taxpayers that have seen their property taxes sky rocket along with their overall cost of living/housing? Cheyenne has been on a mission to annex county pockets to improve safety and services to those former county pockets – but it’s also obviously been a money grab when the $1.8 mil is offset by new revenues from newly annexed properties. Affordable housing is not existent, but regulations are growing exponentially along with the associated fees that are really disguised taxes.
One thing government is good at is spending money. In all my years I cannot recall a government entity saying – hey, I think we have enough money this year, let’s give some back. Fundamentally I disagree with the property tax relief because it effectively pushes more of the obligation on the mineral industry and we as citizens need to wean ourselves off the backs of mineral taxes.
But at the same time, government could be much more effectively using and managing our tax dollars. Maybe the media could spend some time looking at the facts and not just the political spin. All the financial data is public, just takes some time and homework to dig through it vs the 2 min soundbite from a politician.
Its not to say that all government entities are wasteful. There are several that are good stewards, manage budgets well, build good reserves to smooth out the good years with the bad year. But there are others that would spend their last dollar if they could get away with it – or more.
So wait.. the people that wanted property tax breaks, want the money? Bwa ha ha
So many unintended consequences. We need to remember this when it comes time to vote in 2026. This means vetting the candidates and getting out and actually voting. “We the people” need to start using our power at the voting booth.
My wife and I have lived in our little town for 48 years, have been on a fixed income since retirement 11 years ago and truly appreciate the property tax rebate we’ve receive the last couple of years. We occupy property that has been in my family since the late 19-teens. One hundred and three years ago, my Dad was born in a little cabin about 25 feet from where I lay my head at night. My grandparents, my parents and I have paid the property taxes faithfully and it is safe to say they have always quietly gone up. The problem we seem to have now in our county and throughout the state, is that they are not quietly going down.
I worked for 43 years in the Oil & Gas Industry. The several companies that employed me over the years, paid millions in taxes into county, state and federal coffers which helped grow the state and local governments, school districts, libraries, museums, rec centers, senior centers, etc. and created many jobs for others within those institutions. However, near-sighted dependence on a source of revenue from non-renewable resources, has created a shortfall in recent years as budgets have continually increased and revenues slowly declined. If my lowly property taxes are going to break the cycle of government, then perhaps we should look at history for the answers.
Back in the day, the dominant local industry at the time was ranching and there were not many jobs dependent on tax revenue. As an example, our neighbor worked full time for the county as the local road grader operator and because that job did not mean a high paying wage, he was also the part time deputy sheriff. I do remember he often remarked that he had no county vehicle and was required to use his own. He and his wife lived next door for many years, until his retirement when those jobs went to others. In the years since, both have evolved significantly into tax revenue funded positions for more than just one single person.
In my lifetime experience, when the price of oil fell, my billionaire corporate overseers demanded we tighten our belts. When examining line items for potential cost control, the head of the list was always: salaries, wages and benefits. Sometimes that meant being transferred to another area or company and at others simply being laid off. During my career, I managed to survive the roller coaster of two “boom & bust” cycles. Just sayin’ — continued employment was never a given, but a justifiable privilege.
Well said