Members of Wyoming's House Freedom Caucus are working to spread awareness of a new application process required to become eligible for a property tax cut.
Starting in 2026, the new 25% property tax cut is no longer automatic. Wyomingites hoping to benefit must attest that they live in their homes eight months of the year. This also means the cuts most ardent opponents don't have to sign up for it.
The application window to receive the cut is open now through Feb 2.
The group’s former chair, Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, posted alerts Wednesday to Facebook via multiple pages, saying that people hoping to take advantage of the cut must attest to living in their homes most of the year. He blamed Democrats' "pull" in the legislature for advancing the attestation requirement, noting that the cut applied via default in 2025, but that provision ends in 2026.
Bear published the registration link along with the official Wyoming Freedom Caucus account, and other Republican lawmakers aligned with it. Those include Sen. Laura Taliaferro Pearson (Kemmerer), Rep. Daniel Singh (Cheyenne) and Rep. Jayme Lien (Casper).
The cut, passed earlier this year by Wyoming House Freedom Caucus-aligned lawmakers and one Senate Democrat, allows taxpayers to opt in to receive a 25% exemption for the first $1 million of the value of a single-family home. Property tax funds are a key component of local budgets, meaning the cut could impact critical local services like ambulance.
October marks the opening of the application window for the exemption, which stretches until Feb. 2.
You Don’t Have To
Many state decision makers have complained of the cut since its passage, saying they fear for the future of local community services. Community members can take this in to account when deciding whether or not to apply for the exemption.
However, none of the public officials who spoke Thursday to Cowboy State Daily called for an outright boycott in the name of protecting local services.
Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, said that the bill was not well-written. He added that forcing the government to survive on what he described as charity “doesn’t seem like a sustainable way (to provide services).”
“(That) raises other problems including unequal treatment of homeowners in nearly similar circumstances,” he said, adding that asking people not to take the exemption to keep services afloat seems “kind of far-fetched.”
“We’ve just got to fix the tax structure,” he added.
Gov. Mark Gordon made similar comments, saying he knows steep home value increases in recent years have "made putting food on the table a challenge."
"I encourage eligible property owners to take advantage of (the exemption)," Gordon wrote in a Thursday email.
The governor noted property taxes fund local communities and schools rather than the state. Some local services are suffering from property tax revenue shortfalls, he added.
The governor called for bigger policy discussion, writing "I urge lawmakers and residents to take a sober look and understand what these reductions will mean in services we receive."
"We need to start having realistic conversations about the fiscal health of our communities," Gordon's email reads. "Again, we responded to the call for property tax relief when it was necessary and because we are a Republican state, we did so without shifting the tax burden to our oil, gas and mining communities."
"I understand how alluring the discussion of property tax will still be, but I encourage every citizen to consider carefully and reasonably the consequences of irresponsible tax policy and start having practical conversations about the fiscal health of the state," Gordon added.
Can't Have Both
Casper City Councilman Kyle Gamroth said that while he would not blame those who accept the tax cut given the impact of inflation, those who take advantage should be willing to extend their local leaders some grace and recognize “that that is coming at the expense of public services.”
Gamroth acknowledged that he’s heard complaints from locals who recognized the impact of property tax cuts on local parks which have not been as well-tended recently.
“I think it’s hypocritical to hold both those positions at once,” he said of constituents wanting both tax cuts and government services. “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Not Taking Sides
Two county commissioners told Cowboy State Daily they recognize the impact of property taxes on their local jurisdictions but ultimately want residents to do what is best for them.
Hot Springs County Commission Chairman Tom Ryan told Cowboy State Daily that what his constituents do is their business, adding that “I am not encouraging them either way."
Ryan told Cowboy State Daily last week his county recently took a $1.2 million cut, representing about 10% of the total budget. He estimated about $400,000 of those funds came from property tax revenue declines.
“In a small county, it’s a big [way] that we fund our government and there wasn’t a lot of extra that we could cut,” Ryan said of property tax revenue at the time. “We completely eliminated the museum’s budget, we cut our fair budget in half.”
Further cuts, Ryan said at the time, may begin to affect county employees who could lose their jobs.
Laramie County Commission Chairman Gunnar Malm had a similar response, saying that those in need of the extra money should take advantage of the property tax cut.
“No, I encourage residents, especially those with hardships to avail themselves of the tools provided by the legislature for Property Tax relief,” he wrote via text message.
Malm had told Cowboy State Daily last month that he recognized impact property tax cuts were having on other counties across the state, however, including in Hot Springs County.
“You see Big Horn County had to cut a bunch of stuff from various departments from their emergency management to their library,” he said at the time. “You saw Hot Springs County have to reduce their commitment to 4-H education, which is a huge part of Wyoming’s culture and legacy.”
Fraud and Abuse
Rep. Daniel Singh, R- Cheyenne, said he disagreed with calling for constituents to avoid the exemption.
“Using the exemption will not take away local services,” Singh said. “Every homeowner has the right to claim it, and good budgeting should assume that most people will. It would not be responsible to plan a budget hoping people won’t use their 25%.”
Singh added that government leaders throughout the state have had sufficient time to adjust their budgets for the cuts. These leaders should allow their constituents to decide the best course of action, he added.
“If fewer people apply, that’s extra room in the budget,” he said. “If more people apply, it should already be accounted for. Any larger funding pressures come from state policy, not from individual families using what they’re entitled to.”
“I am proud of Wyoming’s conservative and prudent posture toward taxation," Singh continued. "With no individual nor corporate income tax, Wyoming consistently ranks among the least tax burdened states in the country."
Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, said Thursday “we encourage all homeowners to file their attestation online or in person as soon as possible to secure their exemption."
Bear told Cowboy State Daily that accepting the tax cut is a key step in mitigating what he sees as rampant fraud and abuse within local government spending.
“If your local elected officials are fiscally conservative then you should simply see a reduction in fraud, waste, and abuse in your community,” he said of the tax cut. “Fiscal analysis has shown that the 25% tax reduction to homeowners equates to a reduction in county and other local government revenues of between 0.5% and 3%.”
“If a local official is choosing to cut essential services due to a 3% reduction in funds after several years of double-digit increases, then it’s probably time to think about that official’s claims of conservatism,” he added.
Bear added the legislature has earmarked some funds to help backfill revenue lost to property tax cuts, such as money for local school districts.
Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
