On December 10, 1869 our first Territorial Legislature approved, “An act to provide a territorial and county revenue.” In doing this Wyoming modelled the Framer’s ideal of local control, of decisions and responsibilities kept at the local level where citizens can have a direct impact on how those decisions are shaped and financed.
Wyoming voters are faced with the proposition on this November’s ballot to reduce the property tax in our state by 50%.
This initiative, called Proposition One is the first step in what could be a further call to completely dismantle a system of taxation Wyoming has relied upon since before statehood. The reduction by 50% would have an immediate and devastating effect on the services most Wyoming citizens rely upon in their communities.
Property taxes are not always ideal. But they do provide a direct mechanism for citizens - not politicians - to decide on and pay for the services they desire and benefit from.
Wyoming saw rapid increases in residential valuations and those increases have been hard to bear for some.
Accordingly, the legislature, with my support over the past few sessions, enacted meaningful property tax relief while preserving citizens’ rights to determine what and how best to fund the services they see as essential.
Nevertheless, property tax as a mechanism for building and maintaining our communities is not improper.
It is the cost that has become burdensome. Tax reform is fundamentally different from destroying a tax base or relying on the legislature to fund essential services.
Some things are universal - safe neighborhoods depend on services such as firefighting, emergency responses, good schools, and maintained roads.
All of these are essential to Wyoming’s long term strength and vitality.
They make our communities places where families can stay, businesses can grow, and the next generation can build a future they can call home.
Local control is a conservative principle - it means that decisions about community needs should rest as close as possible to those people who live there, who pay the taxes there, and who can hold their local elected officials accountable.
How responsible do we find Congress these days?
Our communities need both the authority and the financial ability to meet those needs.
Every property owner having “skin in the game” helps to assure the citizenry pays attention and demands accountability at the local - very most responsive - level.
In my time in office, in successive budgets, I have seen the legislature continuously reduce its commitment to towns and counties, to make them fight harder for Cheyenne’s attention.
Property tax does not go to the state - it stays at the local level. Reducing and/or eliminating an essential obligation’s funding does not eliminate it, and remarkably this ill conceived Proposition lacks any plan to cover those costs other than counting on the fickleness of future legislatures.
Wyoming families deserve affordable taxes and a disciplined government, and during my terms as your governor you have gotten both.
We cut government, streamlined regulations, provided tax relief, and ensured a healthy and strong state. We did not cut the legs out from under communities and counties.
They also deserve ambulances when they call, firefighters when their homes are threatened, safe roads to work and school.
They expect meaningful taxpayer relief that maintains strong communities.
"The Wyoming people have already benefited from powerful property tax relief like the 25% homeowner exemption or the 50% long-term homeowners exemption among other relief measures."
Cutting just to cut is not a responsible way forward for Wyoming.
Wyoming can, has, and will continue to help reduce tax bills to homeowners, but smaller local revenue does not make essential services less expensive.
Fuel, emergency equipment, road repairs, and the people who protect our communities still cost money.
All but our most wealthy local governments are feeling the same pain we are in paying for fuel, the same decisions on what we can afford.
For the past half century, Wyoming has worked to protect her communities from the booms and busts of a commodity economy. It has been good work and we have all benefitted from those who laid solid groundwork.
If the only answer for the loss of locally derived revenues that fund essential services like educating our children, should Proposition One pass, is for the state to “backfill” local communities from limited funds depending on favorable markets, we must also prepare ourselves for hard times ahead and remind ourselves, dependency on state government in Cheyenne weakens our local communities opportunity to set their own destiny.
Protecting the essentials means protecting Wyoming’s capacity to govern itself.
We must never walk away from that fundamental, conservative principle. If you care about the essential services in your communities, join Jennie and I in voting No on Proposition One.
Mark Gordon is the 33rd governor of Wyoming and took office on January 7, 2019.
