When we talk about property taxes, we are really talking about what makes Wyoming communities work.
Property taxes fund our schools, law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency medical services. They keep libraries open, parks maintained, and roads plowed in the winter.
But instead of protecting these basic services, the Freedom Caucus is pushing tax breaks that benefit the wealthy, especially out-of-state second homeowners, while leaving Wyoming’s middle class and working families to suffer the consequences.
At our most recent Revenue Committee meeting, our colleagues advanced a bill to continue a costly tax exemption for second homeowners and will consider five additional bills that provide similar tax breaks to the wealthy in November – despite hearing from more than 250 Wyomingites across the state that they didn’t want the legislature to further cut property taxes.
As a result, someone in Jackson with a property valued at $10 million or more will get a break that averages over $13,664 annually. Meanwhile, the owner of a median Wyoming home valued at $367,000 will see only about $597 in savings.
The wealthiest homeowners benefit even more from another law the Legislature passed in 2024: a 4 percent cap on how much property taxes can increase annually.
Because it applies cumulatively, it creates huge savings for luxury, high-end property owners.
One lucky out-of-state second homeowner is getting nearly a $15M reduction on his $34M home, saving him over $80,000 in taxes – and he has plenty of company enjoying windfalls of high five-figure tax savings. Which means Wyoming schools lose out.
That is not relief for hardworking Wyomingites. That is a giveaway to the wealthy.
We’ve already seen the damage this approach can inflict; Casper City Council member Amber Pollock testified that her city lost $1.8 million in revenue.
That forced cuts to staff and services, including snow plowing and park maintenance. When those services disappear, it is regular working families who lose out—not out-of-state millionaires.
During the Revenue Committee meeting on August 22, Chairman Tony Locke objected when one of us noted the $196.5M in total lost tax revenues from the property tax exemptions calculated by the Department of Revenue, arguing that schools will be funded no matter how much taxes are cut.
But his Freedom Caucus colleague, Chairman John Bear of the Appropriations Committee, is citing a projected $686M deficit in the state’s school foundation program account – the result mostly of these same property tax cuts – for why other state programs need to be cut.
This is a fiscal cliff of the Freedom Caucus’ own making, and they continue to drive the bus off the precipice by supporting the elimination of property taxes altogether.
If that happens, Wyoming will still need to fund schools, firefighters, roads, and public safety. One option Freedom Caucus lawmakers have already floated is to remove the exemption on groceries and begin taxing food.
That would make basic living more expensive for every family in the state, but especially for seniors and low-income households.
The Legislature has already provided a significant amount of targeted relief for those who truly need help with property taxes: seniors on fixed incomes, hard-working young families trying to make ends meet, and year-round residents who call Wyoming home.
Wyoming has some of the lowest property taxes in the country, and our state tax policy already gives rich people an amazing slew of big tax breaks. We do not need to hand out more tax cuts to people who can most afford to pay.
Wyoming families deserve a tax system that is fair, responsible, and sustainable, not one that shifts the burden onto working families while millionaires and out-of-staters get a free ride.
And, in fact, that’s what Wyomingites voted for in passing Amendment A, a constitutional approach to adjusting the level of assessment for primary homeowners.
But the Freedom Caucus refuses to fully implement it because they think rich second-homeowners deserve an outsized tax break and communities and schools just have a “spending problem”.
It’s time for Wyoming’s hard-working families to realize the Freedom Caucus puts ideology above your family’s and your community’s well-being.
Rep. Liz Storer, HD 23, Jackson
Sen. Stephan Pappas, SD 7, Cheyenne
