Friday, February 27, 2026 |
Photo – U.S. penny – Bigfoot99 file photo
Lawmakers decline to consider a bill to standardize the state’s penny rounding policy.
On February 13th, the Wyoming House of Representatives chose not to consider a bill by Teton County Representative Mike Yin. House Bill 71 proposed specific guidelines for handling cash transactions when pennies become scarce. Under the proposal, totals ending in one, two, six, or seven cents would be rounded down to the nearest nickel. For example, a $1.07 purchase would be rounded to $1.05. Totals ending in three, four, eight, or nine cents would be rounded up to the nearest nickel. Credit, debit, check, and exact‑change cash payments would be unaffected.
Without clear guidance from the state, Wyoming businesses and municipalities have had to develop their own approaches to handling cash transactions. The Town of Medicine Bow has been working on a penny rounding policy that closely matches Representative Yin’s proposed bill.
Speaking at the January 12th Medicine Bow Town Council meeting, Clerk and Treasurer Karen Heath explained that under the town’s proposed system, cash utility payments will be rounded to the nearest nickel. Other payment methods will not be affected.
Councilman Lee Cook questioned the legality of over or undercharging residents for utility payments. Town Attorney Cameron Smith offered to research the matter and, during the following meeting on February 9th, reported that the town appears to be within its legal rights to round pennies.
In the end, the Medicine Bow Town Council voted not to institute an official penny rounding policy until Caselle, the town’s billing program, introduces a software update to automatically round utility payments.
In Cheyenne, as a non-budget bill introduced during the budget session, House Bill 71 would have needed a two-thirds majority vote just to be considered for introduction.
