The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the state’s wildlife agency, is urging lawmakers to pass a new bill that would reduce its property taxes by over $400,000 annually.
WyoFile reports the department paid $850,000 in property taxes last year, but it also facing revenue declines from a downturn in hunting licenses. Senate File 26, “Game and fish property tax exemption-amendments,” would exempt property taxes the department’s regional offices, Cheyenne headquarters, National Bighorn Sheep Center in Dubois and a field office in Buffalo. The department would still be responsible for property taxes on its employee housing and wildlife management areas.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously, but whether it will be approved by the House is unclear. An identical bill also passed the Senate last year but failed in the House.
Perhaps the most mysterious aspect of the issue is why a state agency has to property tax on government buildings, which are traditional exempt from tax collection. The answer, it seems, is that nobody knows.
“I’m sure there was a valid reason, but it was way before my time,” said Ken Gill, a Department of Revenue property tax administrator, during a Senate hearing.
Photo courtesy of Wyoming Game and Fish Department
