Wyoming Lawmakers Weigh Big Property Tax Cuts — Even Talking About Axing Them Completely

The fight over property taxes in Wyoming is heating up again, and this time lawmakers are openly talking about going all the way: eliminating them altogether, Gillette News Record reports.

At last week’s Joint Revenue Committee meeting, legislators floated a stack of new tax-cut ideas, while locals lined up to remind them what property taxes actually pay for — schools, police, fire crews, parks, snow plows, and even cemeteries.

Casper City Council member Amber Pollock said her city already lost $1.8 million from the tax breaks passed in recent years. That shortfall cost Casper half of its seasonal staff, four full-time jobs, and trimmed down services like irrigation and snow removal.

“We’ve managed so far,” she told lawmakers, “but I don’t know what happens if cuts keep coming.”

Other residents were more blunt. Laurie Longtine of Casper said stripping away property tax funding threatens “the things hardworking families in Wyoming take for granted” — libraries, senior centers, and even the cemetery where her family is buried.

Advocates like Nate Martin of Better Wyoming argue property tax relief has turned into a political giveaway.

“Some people’s taxes went up a little, some a lot, and the Legislature responded with targeted relief. But then it shifted,” he said, accusing politicians of using tax cuts to score votes.

Not surprisingly, that didn’t sit well with Sen. Troy McKeown, R-Gillette, who shot back:

“We’re not looking at tax cuts, we’re looking at changing the way it’s done.”

That’s the big unanswered question. If property taxes disappear, counties and cities would need a new revenue stream. Options could mean higher sales taxes or even — gasp — an income tax, something Wyoming has long avoided.

Critics warn that shifting away from property taxes would hit lower-income families hardest. Attorney Jennifer McDowell pointed out that Wyoming already has some of the lowest property tax rates in the country.

“If you increase sales taxes instead, the math is simple,” she said. “That $100 grocery bill hike hurts someone making $10,000 a year way more than someone making $100,000.”

Some lawmakers worry the current relief already favors the wealthy. Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson, said a typical homeowner with a $500,000 house gets a $335 break, while someone with a $10 million property pockets more than $13,000.

“That’s a massive shift from the upper class to the lower class,” she said.

The committee shelved the most drastic proposal — wiping out property taxes statewide — until November, along with several other bills, including one that would base property taxes on purchase price instead of market value.

For now, lawmakers are balancing two sides: residents begging for relief from rising bills, and others who say cutting too far risks gutting the very services that make Wyoming communities livable.

As Rep. Tony Locke, R-Casper, put it:

“There’s two sides of the population here. Some are saying, ‘We’ll pay what we owe.’ Others are saying, ‘We need relief.’ We hear both.”