It’s official: Wyoming homeowners will receive a 25% reduction off their taxes due to Gov. Mark Gordon signing Senate Enrolled Act 60 into law on Tuesday night.
“I have always supported tax accountability, and this bill provides tax relief without transferring the burden to our core energy industry,” Gordon said in a statement. “This act, coupled with the bills I signed last year, responds to the call for property tax relief. Now the practical impacts of this legislation will need to be navigated by our cities, counties, special districts and citizens.”
Another bill still being considered by the Legislature could provide as much 14% of additional relief starting in 2026.
Details Of The 25% Cut
SEA 60 will cut residential property taxes by 25% on fair market home values up to $1 million. All residential property and associated land will be eligible for the tax cut starting this year. Starting in the second year, a requirement will go into place that people receiving the cut must live in their home at least eight months of the year, which will cut out some Wyoming second-homeowners and people who own vacation homes in the state.
SEA 60 provides no make-up funding, known as a backfill, for special districts, local governments or schools that will see reduced revenue as a result of the cut. This was a major sticking point for the governor vetoing a similar bill last year that did provide backfill.
“Governor Gordon has repeatedly expressed discomfort over the idea of utilizing funds paid by other taxpayers to provide property tax relief, so the removal of the backfill was a consideration in his decision to sign HEA 60,” said Michael Pearlman, a spokesperson for the governor. “He recognizes the work done by both chambers in order for the bill to achieve passage in its final form.”
The tax cut has no expiration date.
Other Property Tax Legislation
The Wyoming House passed a bill on Tuesday that will also substantially impact Wyoming’s tax picture if passed into law by the governor.
Senate File 153, a bill that reduces the property tax assessment rate for owner occupied primary residential properties in Wyoming from 9.5% to 8.3% starting in 2026, passed by a 51-9 vote in the House. This reduction would create an additional 14% tax cut for homeowners but would not apply to trailer homes.
There is no backfill in the bill.
Amendments brought by state Rep. J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs, proposed to reimburse for 75% and 50% of the losses the state’s eight poorest counties suffer as a result of this bill was rejected in the House.
Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, sponsor of SF 153, asked the Senate to reject the bill for concurrence on Wednesday morning. The Senate took up his suggestion on a 24-7 vote. The bill will next go to a Joint Conference Committee where the two chambers will try to hammer out an agreement.
Barlow warned that this bill will cause too large of a hit Wyoming’s local governments and schools.
“We’re basically going to add another 15%-plus to what we already did with that 25%,” he said.
Sen. Stacey Jones, R-Rock Springs, agreed, saying it takes “more and more out of local coffers.”
“The blanket approach is not the way to go,” she said.
Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, agreed and said it will disproportionately benefit different parts of the state.
The bill will also cause at least a $15 million hit to the School Foundation Program alone.
Sens. Bob Ide, R-Casper, and Troy McKeown, R-Gillette, spoke in favor of the bill, saying it reflects the Senate’s original property tax goal of a 50% cut.
The state’s property tax rebate program also appears headed for renewal.
Even though funding for continuing the program was lost when the supplemental budget was killed last week, a total of $10.5 million for it was put into a bill sent to the governor’s desk on Tuesday.
