CHEYENNE–After negotiations faltered between House and Senate mediators Tuesday, a bill to cut residential property taxes by 25% is headed to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk.
“This is probably one of the most important issues facing the state Legislature, and I want to compliment the House, because I know that they also wanted proper tax relief,” Senate Vice President Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, said Thursday morning during a Joint Conference Committee meeting to reconcile different versions of Senate File 69, “Homeowner property tax exemption,” passed by the Senate and the House.
The meeting was a shift from Tuesday, when Senators on the committee expressed surprise and disappointment at their House counterparts’ decision to vote down a proposed compromise on the bill. House members had said they simply needed more time, and that appeared to do the trick.
“We’ve had a chance to meet with our House Republican caucus. Last night, we discussed this bill at length. I’ve had a chance to discuss it with a few of our minority party members as well,” House Majority Floor Leader Scott Heiner, R-Green River, said, adding that they “ran a bunch of numbers” on the Senate’s compromise.
“We would like to accept the Senate’s position that was offered on Tuesday morning,” Heiner said.
The bill now includes a 25% exemption on the first $1 million of a single-family home’s fair market value. It does not include a backfill to offset lost local government revenues, nor a sunset date. The exemption would go into effect immediately, with an owner-occupied stipulation kicking in the second year with a consideration for homeowners who are deployed military members.
Fiscal impact
Before all six members of the JCC voted to adopt the proposal, Heiner made a request in light of the Senate’s announcement last night that it would not pass a supplemental budget.
Heiner asked that the JCC add $15 million in backfill for special districts related to health and emergency management services — an appropriation the Senate had included in its budget bill. Similarly, the House’s budget bill earmarked $72 million in grants for local governments in the state’s eight “hardship” counties.
But with the Senate skipping out on the budget this year, both of those appropriations are set to be left behind.
“We know that special districts rely heavily upon property taxes, more so than most of the other government entities,” Heiner said. “And so this would be for the first year to provide some help as their revenue gets dramatically decreased,” Heiner said.
Property taxes do not go to the state, but instead stay with local governments and fund public services like K-12 education and transportation, law enforcement, senior centers, hospitals, water and sewer, community colleges, libraries, roads and sidewalks.
The Senate declined Heiner’s proposition before he withdrew it. While Salazar said he appreciated the idea and understood where it’s coming from, a 25% exemption will be “negligible” in terms of revenue reduction.
That’s not the way local governments see it.
“A 25% exemption is neither negligible nor would a 25% reduction of any major state funding source,” Jerimiah Rieman, executive director of the Wyoming County Commissioners, told WyoFile in an email.
Instead, Rieman wrote, the bill as passed by the JCC “will diminish county government services and will make counties more reliant on state revenues and Wyoming’s mineral industry.”
The bill should be considered in the context of other legislation, Rieman wrote, including exemptions put into law last year and two other tax bills already enacted this year. The latter pair combined are estimated to reduce local government revenues by $42.2 million in fiscal year 2027.
“These revenue reductions, when combined with Senate File 69 and other legislation still under consideration is beyond comprehension,” Rieman wrote.
Throughout the session, local governments have called on lawmakers to seek targeted relief for homeowners in place of blanket cuts. And for a time, SF 69 took that approach thanks to an amendment from Rep. Ken Clouston, R-Gillette. However, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus ultimately stripped it out of the bill after initially supporting Clouston’s proposal.
Part of local governments’ concerns come from the fact that home values — and with them property taxes — have spiked in only certain parts of the state. Eight counties, for example, collect less in property tax now than they did in 2015, according to an analysis by the Wyoming Taxpayers Association.
There’s also a longstanding structural revenue gap between mineral and non-mineral counties, which Rieman said will only be exacerbated by SF 69.
Several local government representatives were at the Capitol Thursday for a Wyoming Association of Municipalities luncheon with lawmakers. That included Laramie Mayor Sharon Cumbie.
“Long-range planning and fiscal responsibility are core values of both the city and the city council. And they guide what we do,” Cumbie told WyoFile.
“To suddenly have a dramatic shift is quite an interruption,” she said.
Both chambers are now expected to approve the bill before sending it to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk for consideration. He has the option to sign, veto or let it become law without his signature.
Those the gods are about to destroy ,
They first make mad.
Homer
I commented yesterday that my issue is the assessment process. I do believe from my experience Lincoln County’s is arbitrary. I do not think Debbie Larson is corrupt or incompetent. I think her team does the best they can with a faulty process. Instead of guessing/appraising values the free market sale purchase price is what should be used. Thisbvalue is recorded during the title recording. Have the seller and buyer both sign a legal document on the true value. No more yearly surprises. This will update during each sale.
The contesting process stinks. You have to protest by a early date or you are out of luck forever. If you do make the date, you have to report to Kemmerer on a specific date once a year even if you had something else planned that day. In Lincoln county the process is arbitrary and needs fixing.
The tax cut is good for Lincoln County probably not Niobrara. However, the real issue is arbitrary surprise appraisals.
MISPLACED COMPASSION
In moving towards passage and implementation of a 25% property tax cut on the first $1 million market value of any residential property through SF 69, I suppose Wyoming legislators wished to be viewed as wise and compassionate. How foolish.
As I speak in generalities on this topic, let me ask for corrections if I am mistaken.
But I believe it is true that properties valued at under $1 million are typical throughout Wyoming’s least prosperous counties. I also believe it is true that these properties have been less impacted by inflation than elsewhere in Wyoming. So, less prosperous communities where all residences are valued at under $1 million will see a full 25% cut in property tax revenue even though homes in these communities may have appreciated less than 25% over the past 4-5 years and property tax revenues in these communities consequently may have increased less than 25% (perhaps even substantially less than 25%). Once enactment of this legislation is finalized, these least prosperous Wyoming communities will be more hard pressed than ever to meet their local needs through local property taxes.
Meanwhile, I believe in Wyoming’s most prosperous communities property values may have inflated as much as 50-100% in the past 4-5 years. Residential properties in these areas may now average as much as $2-4 million. Under the new legislation, residential properties in these prosperous Wyoming counties will only see a 6-12% cut in property taxes, and, likewise, the local government coffers that have swollen with property tax revenues on inflated residential properties in recent years will remain pretty much as overfunded as ever.
So, the well-meaning property tax cut seems to proclaim: Let rich local governments stay rich, let poor local governments fend for themselves.
Maybe I misunderstand the economics of the situation, but, at first blush, it sure looks like misplaced compassion to me. In trying to target relief, its seems like the outcome will backfire from what was intended. Wyoming needs true, simple, broad tax relief, nothing fancy. Maybe 10% for everyone. Or 20%. Or 30%. But not SF 69. Tell me how much property tax revenue has risen statewide in the past 5 years, and that is where I would start.
I appreciate a needed band aid but what is needed is transparent, accurate, and fair assessments. Lincoln County has arbitrary and capricious. I will bet anyone $100 average assessments in Lincoln County magically top 25% next year negating any cut. I have four lots in Afton data from 2018 to 2024. One has increased 114% one 153% one 29% one 148%. The 29% and 153% are almost indistinguishabe and can be explained only by an incompetent or corrupt appraisal system. We need a lawsuit on how appraisals work. I am for property taxes. It is a good way to generate stable revenue. We need a transparent appraisal process. Market value is the puchase price! Wyoming is one of nine states to not publicly disclose sale prices. Full disclosure states like Colorado and Nevada do not have wild year to year arbitrary and capricious appraisals.
One small step towards TRUE property ownership!
Thank you!