Lawmakers on the Joint Revenue Committee reviewed 11 different property tax bills from this past year’s budget session but failed to pass. Now, the committee is eyeing a revival of some of those bills, as the lawmakers await to see the results of the People's Initiative vote in November. That’s a ballot initiative, brought by voters, that seeks to reduce property taxes in the state by 50%.
Committee members passed motions requesting the Legislative Service Office (LSO) to draft five new bills, four of which would be based on bills from the 2026 legislature.
- The first draft request is a revival of SF 110, which would change the assessment rates for owner-occupied residency vs other residency types. This past budget session, this bill made it through the Senate. It died on third reading in the House.
- The second draft request is based on HB 147, which would remove the current 25% property exemption and keep a 4% cap in place if the People’s Initiative passes in November. This bill died in the Senate after a Committee of the Whole failed to consider the bill last session.
- Next is HB 73, which changes how fair market value is assessed. This bill failed very early on in the legislature, failing to win an introduction vote in the House.
- And a request to draft HB118, a bill to eliminate the assessment of residential property taxation. This bill also failed very early on in the legislature, after a failed introduction vote.
- Additionally, LSO was requested to draft a new bill that would make it so the current 25% property tax exemption requirements mirror the long-term homeowner standard.
Dixie J. Huxtable, an assessor for Converse County, said she believed some people were waiting to take advantage of current tax breaks as they wait to see what happens with the People’s Initiative.
“I think a lot of people are just holding off to find out what happens with the People's Initiative, to be honest,” said Huxtable. “That's the discussion. They want to see what's coming out of that people's initiative so that they don't have to call and revoke an application and start over again.”
Sen. Bob Ide (R-Casper) asked if the passage of the People’s Initiative would “streamline the confusion.”
“That's just part of the confusion that's already out there,” said Huxtable. “Because they're not sure where that plays, and to be honest, we don't know because we only know what was in statute already.”
There has also been pressure on the county and local side to keep up with questions and requests from taxpayers. Huxtable said her office has had a jump in overtime due to the number of people being called in to help taxpayers navigate potential property tax reductions.
“We've had overtime probably more than ever before in the assessor's,” said Huxtable. “Not because they got stuck out in the field in a rain storm, but because they had to come in on a weekend to process the last batch of exemptions. They came in so they could get it in on time.”
Huxtable added that traffic to their offices had grown "exponentially", including dealing with a few frustrated members of the public.
Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander) asked Ken Guille, the administrator of the Wyoming Department of Revenue property tax division, if the taxpayer had any way of understanding these changes in code on the “granular” level.
“Folks don't know how it's impacting their little fire district,” said Guille. “Some [districts] they rely on minerals and less on property tax, but there are some fire districts in the county I come from that 100% rely on residential property tax because that's pretty much what's in their district.”
Rep. Jayme Lien (R-Casper) pushed back some, suggesting the granular level was somewhat impossible to explain to the individual taxpayer as local budgets can reallocate money at any time. She also asked Guille if “individuals have the opportunity to go to their treasurer's office and ask for a printout of how their taxes are spent?” to which Guille agreed.
The committee is meeting again on the last day of August and the first day of September. The People’s Initiative will be on the ballot for voters on Nov. 3.
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.
