A citizen-led property tax initiative has collected enough signatures to be included on the 2026 general election ballot, according to Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s office.
Gray certified the initiative on Jan. 2. It would slash 50% of residential property taxes for homeowners who’ve lived in Wyoming for at least a year.
Critics of the idea worry about how the loss of tax revenue could impact school districts, fire departments and other local government services.
The general election in 2026 will mark 30 years since a voter-led initiative like this one received enough support to be put on the ballot in Wyoming.
Speaking to Wyoming Public Radio in July, Cheryl Aguiar, a Thermopolis retiree and a member of the committee of applicants leading the effort, talked about what she heard from people who signed the initiative.
“Their property tax has literally doubled, either in a year or in two years,” said Aguiar. “We heard lots of stories. Some of them would break your heart.”
Gray released his first review of the initiative this past July and found that it was over a thousand signatures short. Since then, the number of signatures collected by the committee rose from 28,700 to 30,251.
In Wyoming, voters can propose and enact laws via initiatives like this one. Citizens need to gather an amount of signatures equal to 15% of those who voted in the last general election.
At a press conference on Jan. 7, reporters asked Gov. Mark Gordon about the initiative.
He pointed to the importance of those funds at the county level, especially for counties that had land marred by wildfires during the last season.
“The state doesn't get those dollars,” said Gordon. “So this summer, for example, all the firefighting that happened was all done by county fire departments or municipal fire departments.”
Wyoming and the federal government helped when they could, Gordon said, but at the end of the day, individual counties in the state shouldered most of the burden.
“It's important that people balance their expectations,” he said. “[They should be thinking,] ‘Not only do I not have as much of a tax burden, but I also understand that that has consequences on what services I can demand from my local entity.’”
If state lawmakers pass a property tax measure that’s similar to the ballot initiative in the next two legislative sessions, there’s a chance it won’t be necessary. That was the outcome for an initiative banning crossover voting in 2022, sponsored by the same Wyomingites as the property tax initiative.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
