JUNE 6, 2025 |
Photo – Wyoming Capitol Building in Cheyenne – Bigfoot99 file photo
Wyoming lawmakers went wild this week, voting Tuesday to draft a bill that abolishes the state’s property tax system.
The legislation will likely change when legislators meet again in August.
During a meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee in Gillette, the proposal was introduced by Senator Bob Ide, a Casper Republican. Ide said taxpayers are “paying unrealized gains” on inflation, he said, and it’s time for the state to “shift to a new system.”
Recent property tax reform passed in the last two years has created complexity in assessment for both the taxpayer and county assessors, Ide told the committee.
Ide moved to have Legislative Service Office staff draft a bill that would repeal the property tax structure under Article 15 of the Wyoming Constitution, and to consider replacing it with a sales tax.
To amend the state Constitution, the proposal would need to pass both legislative chambers with a majority two-thirds vote and be signed by the governor.
Then, it would be put on the ballot in the next general election and need the support from a majority of voters.
To avoid the complexity of going to a ballot issue, Senator Ide argued that a state sales tax is “the only fair way to go. At least you have a choice on a consumption tax.”
The multiple forms of property tax relief passed in recent years by the Legislature has created turmoil and confusion for both county assessors and taxpayers, according to experts. Crook County Assessor Dan Thomas, who spoke on behalf of the Wyoming County Assessors Association, said, “There’s a lack of clarity in how recently passed tax exemptions are presented on the notice of valuation.”
Lawmakers heard testimony this week that county assessors are seeing more misapplications, missed deadlines and rising frustration from both taxpayers and the county offices trying to work with them.
Ide’s motion on a sales tax increase passed the committee on a vote of 11-3, with Senators Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne; Cale Case, R-Lander; and Representative Liz Storer, D-Jackson, voting against it. Case said replacing the property tax with a sales tax would create a “distributional problem.” “Increasing sales taxes”, Senator Case argued, “will ‘hit poor people harder.’”
Wyoming collected over $2 billion in property tax revenue in the 2024 fiscal year, and half of that was generated through mineral production, according to the Legislative Service Office. Property taxes are the largest source of tax revenue for the state and make up nearly half of the state’s total tax revenue.
Sales and use and lodging taxes are the second-largest source of tax income and make up around a third of Wyoming’s total tax revenue.
Some Republicans who voted for Ide’s measure are angling to create new reforms in property tax structure later this year.
Wyoming lawmakers on the Joint Revenue Committee moved to statutorily define “residential property” as its own property tax class and give it the lowest assessed tax rate of 8.3%.
A legislative staff analysis of data from the Department of Revenue estimated the 25% homeowner tax exemption will cost Wyoming an estimated $113 million in the 2026 fiscal year. Around $70.9 million of the loss will impact K-12 funding and $42.1 million will impact counties, municipalities, and special districts.
By 2027, the loss to K-12 schools is estimated to reach $47.6 billion while local counties in Wyoming will lose over $28 billion.
Property tax reform was a top voter issue prior to the 2024 General Election. Voters approved a Constitutional amendment letting the Legislature treat residential property taxes as their own category.
