A post in which the Laramie County Fire Authority announced that its trunk-or-treat event is cancelled this year blew up Friday, when supporters of residential property tax cuts criticized the post as "propaganda" against future cuts.
"We regret to announce that we will not be hosting our annual Trunk-or-Treat event his year due to budget constraints, largely resulting from reductions in property tax revenue," the post says.
The post added, “We appreciate our community’s understanding as we prioritize available funding toward essential emergency services and operations.”
Critics took the post not just as lamenting earlier property tax cuts, but as a veiled campaign against a deeper property tax cut facing voters on the Nov. 3 ballot. If it passes, Proposition 1 will change state law so that homeowners can claim an alternate 50% property tax exemption on home structures.
State law also contains a 25% property tax exemption option on the first $1 million in home value, a 4% cap on property tax increases from year to year, and a 50% exemption for long-term homeowners over 65 who have paid Wyoming property tax for at least 25 years and have lived in the home at least eight months.
The state also has exemptions for veterans and disabled people.
State Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, called the post “propaganda.”
“That is a political tactic to tacitly shame people into not voting for a tax cut, because look what you did to the children,” said Kelly in a Friday phone interview.
“Here we are two weeks out from Halloween,” he continued. “A big graphic explicitly laments the tax cuts and now says the kids won’t have their party. That is political propaganda.”
The fire authority’s announcement comes as Prop 1 opponents emphasize that the cut will downsize the largely property-tax funded budgets of rural fire departments.
To Kelly, the post only confirms the claims of government excess that originally drove Prop 1 supporters.
“I don’t think it’s the government’s job to be funding any holiday party, whether it’s pagan or Christian,” said Kelly. “The entire event can be paid for by community donations. It doesn’t have to be through coercive taxation.”
Kelly was not alone.
Andrew Patceg, who serves on the Sheridan City Council, said he too believes the post “could be labelled as propaganda.”
“The number one thing we want to do is see our government agencies spending money on their core responsibilities and staying in their lane,” said Patceg.
He noted the fervor around the Prop 1 debate heading into the general election, and said “everybody right now is just really sensitive. Because there’s a lot of people trying to inspire fear.”
That’s in spite of what Patceg calls the relatively small impact of Prop 1.
The severity of the impact depends on whom you ask.
The official figures from the Legislative Service Office, drawing from assessor data, say that Prop 1 would initially keep $109.4 million from going into local government, special district, community college and public school coffers. That’s roughly double the $54 million impact of the 25% exemption, which has a $1 million value cap but applies to land and not just home structures.
Not Candy
State Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne, entered the fray Friday, posting: “So they can cut nonessential expenses. Good to know.”
Lucas added, “The government owns nothing. Every Tootsie Roll they buy is from YOUR money.”
Lucas did not respond to a Friday voicemail request for comment.
Laramie County Fire Authority Chief Jason Caughey said in a Friday phone interview that the post wasn’t about candy, which he said people donate.
“It’s all the ancillary expenses, so it’s the salaries of our people – all those other components that we had to look at because of our reduction in our budget this last year,” said the chief.
Caughey said the department lost 38% of its budget this year and is back to a 2018 budget level – but facing 2026 level prices for diesel, staffing and other costs.
The department reduced the number of apparatus at last weekend’s toys-for-tots event, he added.
A portion of the budget has been reserved for education and community engagement, he said. That includes money for plastic fire helmets for kids.
He said the trunk or treat, which has been ongoing for six or seven years, “gives us an opportunity to have contact with our public, to speak with them, make sure they have reflective gear if they’re trick or treating that night. It allows us opportunities to share what our organization does for the community.”
Having to cancel the event is “not fun,” said Caughey.
Patceg said shortages for staff, fuel, and plastic hats looked to him like “rather shaky arguments for what otherwise seems like it was a politically motivated cancellation.”
Caughey said in his own interview the post was “absolutely not” meant to campaign against Prop 1, but to draw awareness to recent budget reductions.
The 25% property tax cut was part of that. So was a reduced ability to draw oil and gas tax revenues wrought by the Legislature, he said.
Caughey said he hopes the public sees the department is trying to be fiscally responsible with “their dollar.” He said the department has sought and found multiple ways to cut expenses.
Department personnel will still be at the county trunk or treat at the Archer Complex, Caughey added.
Kelly said whether the expense is for candy or staffing and plastic helmets, the basic notion remains the same:
“An essential service is using some of their funds for a party.”
Lotta Noise Here
Former state lawmaker Roger Huckfeldt, of Torrington, reflected on the post and its backlash with amazement.
“Boy, that was a faux pas,” said Huckfeldt in a Friday interview.
Huckfeldt said he sees the pros and cons of Prop 1, and said he’s tried to stay out of the public argument on it.
Some arguments seem disingenuous, he said, like opponents arguing that it’s a way to back-door an income tax into Wyoming law.
Politicians who want an income tax wouldn’t hold office long, he said.
As for the fire department’s post, Huckfeldt said when he was a young volunteer firefighter, “if we did something that benefitted the community, we didn’t take it out of the fire department funds. We took it out of our own pockets, or we went to local businesses and asked for donations.”
Huckfeldt added, “I’m guessing things have changed.”
Though he declined to take a public stance for or against Prop 1, Huckfeldt echoed others in calling the post “propaganda.”
Hours after the Fire Authority's post a different district, Laramie County Fire District No. 1, posted that its trunk or treat is donation funded and still slated for 5-9 p.m. Oct. 30. at the Town and Country parking lot.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
