CHEYENNE — In case you missed it, the Legislature is in a dizzying muddle over property tax cuts, but they are not alone.
In recent years many of the states have been distressed over property taxes that were exploding, fueled by inflation that pushed up the value of homes and passed assortments of cuts.
Wyoming was no different.
For example, I bought my small, two-bedroom house in an old neighborhood in southwest Cheyenne in 1976, after my divorce, because it had trees, like we had in my home state of Iowa.
I paid $33,000, and was delighted to be able to pick up a VA loan at 7.5 percent, in an inflationary time when interest rates were high.
For the past couple of years I have been receiving postcards from people who want to buy my house - always “as is.”
This week I received a letter offering $308,000 for my house, “as is.”
Weird.
Anyway, with a Legislature controlled largely by the hard-right-wing anti-tax Freedom Caucus, the state passed a number of property tax bills last year.
The list included a 50-percent exception for long-term homeowners, and a 25-percent reduction for primary residence valued at up to $1 million. The legislators last year also increased the property tax exemption for veterans and for low income or disabled people.
Moreover, the lawmakers voted for a cap of 4 percent on annual increases of property taxes, a law that is currently in contention.
The job of lawmakers in the coming budget session is to cut through the fog caused by too many property tax cuts. They also must decide whether they want to eliminate the tax entirely and replace it with sales tax.
This is an idea offered before by Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper.
Another tax break, the one that I consider a bomb, is the proposed constitutional amendment that is scheduled to be on the Nov. 2026 general election ballot.
It would decrease residential property taxes by 50 percent.
If this is not repealed ahead of time, and appears on the general election ballot, it will pass. Or it could be left untouched while another current tax break is repealed.
People hate the property tax, yet it is the most reliable source of money for local governments.
Nevertheless, frugality is in vogue right now, according to Governing.com.
This means any whiff of a tax increase or any increase in spending is doomed not only in Wyoming, but in many other states with a strong Freedom Caucus presence.
It also means that much of the debate on property tax relief in legislatures nationwide will center on which proposals do the least harm to “local” services, especially in the long term.
I emphasize “local” because in Wyoming, as in most states, the money from property taxes is spent in the county and is not, as some legislators seem to think, shipped to the state coffers in Cheyenne to be frittered away.
Preserving local services is a message supporters of local government must get across. That could be one of the major issues of the coming session.
Wyoming people want to support education. They also want to be able to call the fire department if there’s a fire, the police if they are robbed or attacked, and an ambulance if they have a heart attack.
Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
