February 24, 2023 |
At the legislature, one property tax bill moved forward, and another died in the Senate this week as lawmakers try to make good on campaign promises of delivering relief from increased valuations of houses in Wyoming.
Some, but not all, counties saw house values inflate over the last three years as people fled other parts of the country.
House Bill 99, an income-targeted property tax refund program, passed second reading Thursday on the Senate floor. House Bill 98, a blanket property tax exemption, failed in the Senate Revenue Committee on Tuesday night. Both bills were sponsored by the House Revenue Committee.
The Senate approved an amendment to House Bill 99 yesterday brought by Senator Tara Nethercott. The amendment limits the ability to apply for the program to the homeowner, removing language that allowed an immediate family member to apply. Sen. Nethercott explained the reasoning for the amendment.
The amendment passed. HB 99 would grant eligible homeowners a refund not to exceed 90% of their prior year’s property tax not exceeding one-half of the median residential property tax liability in the applicant’s county. The administrative paperwork doesn’t stop there. Eligibility is limited to households where the total income is not greater than 125% of the median gross household income in the applicant’s county. Median household income in Carbon County was around $62,254 between 2017 and 2021.
Meanwhile, House Bill 98, which would have taken $50,000 off the top of every house valuation in the state failed. The exemption would have saved every homeowner in Wyoming about $300 a year while depriving the state of $70 million in revenues over the two-year life of the bill.
Wyoming enjoys some of the lowest property taxes in the nation, 46 out of 50, in large part because the oil and gas industry bankrolls government, not the citizens. Senator Troy McKeown of Campbell County said while he liked the sentiment behind HB 98, he said it transferred the tax burden from homeowners to coal mines and oil fields.
House Bill 98 was opposed by the oil and gas industry, the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, and even a taxpayer group. The exemption bill failed on a 3-2 vote.
