A bill that would cut Wyoming homeowners’ property taxes by 25% appears to have only one more hurdle to leap over before becoming law.
On Thursday, members of the Wyoming Senate and House finally agreed on Senate File 69, which would authorize the biggest property tax cut in Wyoming history. Barring a surprise rejection of the agreement by other members of their chambers later on Thursday, SF 69 will be heading to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk for a signature.
During a Joint Conference Committee (JCC) meeting on Thursday morning, representatives from both sides agreed to a deal that was identical to what had been proposed by the Senate members on Tuesday. After receiving the proposal on Tuesday, the House representatives said they needed some time to talk about it with their members.
Although Senate Vice President Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, claimed Thursday he was “more than willing to let the House take a look at that,” other Senate leaders had a less than positive reaction when they spoke to reporters about the delay on Tuesday.
Despite the tortured path the tax cut took, both parties seemed amenable to the final deal that was struck on Thursday.
“It was clear from the very beginning that the people of Wyoming want property tax relief,” Salazar said. “This is probably one of the most important issues facing the state Legislature. I’d like to compliment the House because I know they also wanted property tax relief.”
The Details
The property tax cut will go into effect immediately for the 2025 tax year and will apply to all residential properties, associated structures and land. In the first year of its existence, second-home owners will be able to take advantage of it, but starting in the tax year 2026 it will be limited to primary homeowners that live in their residence at least eight months a year.
The tax cut will apply to the fair market value of a property up to $1 million.
It has no expiration date.
It also has no backfill, money to make up for the reduced revenue local governments and schools will experience as a result of the cut. This had been a major source of contention in the House, which had approved using other sources to replace half of the funding local governments and schools would lose in its version of SF 69.
Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson, was one of the House members who planned to vote against accepting the concurrence agreement on Thursday. She pointed out how it will have a reduced benefit to her constituents in Teton County, which enjoys a median home value of around $2 million.
“It gives the least amount of tax break to the people who have been impacted the most because their property values are so high and they’ve seen the highest rate change,” she said.
Backfill Rejected
On Wednesday night, the Senate made a bombshell announcement that it would not be passing a supplemental budget. Contained within the House’s version of the budget was a $72 million backfill for local governments and support for Wyoming’s poorest counties. With the budget off the table, that funding no longer exists.
With all of that in mind, Majority Floor Leader Scott Heiner, R-Green River, proposed a $15 million backfill for special districts be included in the property tax bill on Thursday.
Salazar didn’t support the proposal, mentioning how SF 69 was slashed from the Senate’s version of a 50% cut to just a 25% cut.
“The Senate’s positon is we don’t feel the backfill is needed,” he said. “As everyone knows we were at 50%, now we’re at 25%. We feel at 25% the hit is negligible.”
After Salazar expressed his opposition, Heiner rescinded the backfill proposal.
“It’s important we do something this year and not kick the can down the road more so,” Heiner said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
