Carbon County Commissioners Discuss Doing More with Less

JUNE 18, 2025 |

Photo – Property Tax Notice – Bigfoot99 file photo

Carbon County Commissioners face the realities of doing more with less as they grapple with the reality of lowering or eliminating property taxes.

In February of 2024, Natrona County Republican Representative Steve Harshman introduced a bill to eliminate property taxes on residential homes. The bill, titled Property tax reduction and replacement act, proposed making up the lost property tax revenue with increased sales tax. The measure was defeated in the Wyoming House of Representatives by a vote of 14 to 47.

However, Natrona County politicians were still working on their attempt to eliminate property taxes. During the June 3rd Joint Revenue Committee, Natrona County Senator Bob Ide proposed amending the state constitution to eliminate the 1876 mandate for property tax collection. Without that provision, Sentor Ide, and the members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, would be free to eliminate all property taxes, not just those on residential land. The Joint Revenue Committee approved Senator Ide’s motion by a vote of 11 to three.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Sue Jones criticized the Joint Revenue Committee for voting to eliminate property taxes. Commissioner Jones said without property tax revenue, local governments will struggle to fund necessary services, such as libraries and senior centers.

To make up for the budget shortfall, the Joint Revenue Committee has proposed increasing the state sales tax by 12 to 20 percent. Commissioner Jones warned that higher sales taxes could drive Wyoming families to shop out of state, causing statewide economic harm.

In this year’s legislative session, Wyoming House of Representatives passed a 25% property tax cut on the first $1 million of all single-family homes.

Commissioner Jones said residents will begin seeing the effects of the tax relief programs beginning on July 1.

Commissioner Jones urged the public to reach out to their state representatives and advocate for ending the tax relief programs. Otherwise, Commissioner Jones recommended taking the money you’re saving on your property taxes and donating to local services that you support.

Commissioner Jones stressed that non-profit organizations will need more public support to remain operational.

Commissioner John Espy added that in the 1990s, Wyoming faced a budget shortfall. Lawmakers at the time considered adopting a personal income tax. With the discovery of natural gas, Wyoming entered another economic boom. At that time, lawmakers had the foresight to place much of the new income into savings, which now funds roughly 30% of the state budget.

If property taxes are eliminated, Commissioner Espy said the state might deplete its savings accounts to fund legally required services.

Commissioner Espy urged state lawmakers to study Wyoming’s history to avoid repeating past mistakes.

The Commissioner said Wyoming residents have a relatively low tax burden when compared to other parts of the country. Wyoming exports large amounts of electrical power, enabling residents to benefit from a low tax rate.

Commission Chairman Travis Moore said he was especially frustrated by the lack of backfill for special districts. The proposed property tax cuts do not specify how special districts, such as Carbon County Weed and Pest and the Medicine Bow Conservation District, will be funded. Chairman Moore said lawmakers must be held accountable for cutting funding to those publicly supported programs.

Commissioner Sue Jones said government funding is intertwined, with property taxes being used to fund essential services. Commissioner Jones argued that the state legislature should have taken a more nuanced approach to property tax reductions and criticized the reliance on sales taxes to cover the deficit.

The Board said the proposed sale tax increase will far surpass any property tax savings.