NOVEMBER 12, 2024|
Photo – Property tax image – Bigfoot99 file photo
One week ago on Election Day, Wyoming voters approved Constitutional Amendment A, that could potentially lower residential property taxes.
The measure passed statewide with 146,300 votes for and 100,375 opposed. Here in Carbon County, 3,470 voters cast their ballots for the amendment, with 2,362 against.
The COVID pandemic caused a surge in home values and a growing demand for housing in Wyoming as residents from other states fled to the Cowboy State, which took a more relaxed approach to the politically generated hysteria. The real-world result to the hysteria was rising home prices and increased property tax values, with some homeowners seeing their taxes double over the past four years.
Currently, Wyoming has three property tax classifications: mineral production; industrial; and all others, which includes residential and commercial real property. Wyoming residential and commercial properties are taxed at the same 9.5% rate. In order to exclusively lower residential property taxes, a constitutional amendment is needed.
In early 2023, Democratic state representative Mike Yin, from Jackson, proposed Constitutional Amendment A to create a fourth property tax classification, specifically targeting residential real property. Speaking to Bigfoot99 last month, Carbon County Assessor Renee Snider explained that the amendment, now passed, will allow state lawmakers to adjust residential and commercial property taxes independently.
The amendment only applies to owner occupied primary residences, and does not cover second homes, rental properties, or vacation homes.
How the state lawmakers intend to use their new power remains unclear. Will the legislature lower residential property taxes? A provision of the constitutional amendment states that lawmakers are not permitted to reduce taxes by more than 2 percentage points.
A proposed bill to set the tax rate for owner occupied primary residences at 8.3% died in committee earlier this year.
Most Wyoming voters supported Constitutional Amendment A. However, counties and municipalities rely on property tax revenue, which makes up a substantial portion of their yearly budgets. Statewide, nearly 73% of collected property taxes are allocated to education, 17.5% to county governments, and 1.8% to municipalities. By lowering the tax rate, the state may force local governments to limit services or lay off employees. Here in Carbon County, approximately 16%, or $7.4 million, of the previous fiscal year’s budget was made up of residential property taxes.
If property taxes are lowered under the constitutional amendment, the state legislature must decide how to cover the lost revenue. Some lawmakers have suggested increasing commercial property taxes to shore up local budgets. However, raising commercial property taxes may make Wyoming less attractive to new businesses and cause existing companies to relocate to less expensive states.
The state legislature has yet to schedule a date to discuss adjusting property tax rates.
