An initiative to eliminate Wyoming’s property taxes through the passage of a constitutional amendment is taking shape in the state’s legislature.
Wyofile.com reports this initiative is fueled by confusion that previous property tax relief efforts.
“Taxpayers often struggle to determine which exemptions they qualify for, when and how to apply and which forms are required,” said Crook County Assessor Dan Thomas during a hearing before the Joint Revenue Committee on Wednesday. “As a result, we see misapplications, missed deadlines and a rising frustration, both from taxpayers and from the county offices working hard to assist them. While each of these measures provides meaningful tax relief, taken together, they have introduced a significant level of confusion for taxpayers.”
Sen. Bob Ide, a Republican, advocated for the ending of all property taxes – residential, commercial, industrial and personal.
“We need to shift to a new system,” said Ide, who put forth a motion to draft a bill repealing most of Article 15 of the Wyoming Constitution. “A sales tax is the only way we’re going to muck out all of this layered minutia of property taxes.”
Property taxes generated $2 billion in revenue for Wyoming during the 2024 tax year – more than any tax stream. Another Republican lawmaker, Sen. Cale Case, questioned whether Ide’s proposal was being hastily rushed.
“We need to study the topic first before we throw a resolution out to eliminate property taxes from the constitution,” said Case, pointing out that substituting sales taxes for property taxes would create more problems. “You would still have a distributional problem with a consumption tax. Take Niobrara County, for example, and say, ‘All right, people, your county is going to be funded by consumption, and it’s the consumption that occurs in the county. There’s nothing there. There’s very little exchange.”
The Joint Revenue Committee will continue its consideration of the property tax elimination at its next meeting on Aug. 21.
Eliminating the property taxes for people over 65 should be implemented in every state!
First ask what happens next. Florida is talking about the same thing. You will have to pay taxes, one way or another, since the state has to operate. What about people who have lower taxes due to long-term homestead exemptions? What about people with other favorable exemptions. Everyone will have to pay the alternative tax that raises required money. Candidly, it benefits those with expensive real estate the most. Is that what you want?
in Colorado, property taxes are basically vased on assessor fraud. i buy a house for 950k, but the assessor says it’s worth 1.1M and taxes based on that. sales taxes say you paid what you paid and there is a fair and consistent tax on that amount. Richer people tend to spend more and therefore pay more taxes, but it’s proportional rather than arbitrary, capricious and even fraud based. Europe has a similar model. it’s cleaner, and property taxes are broken. One Texas home builder is working with the FBI to send some local assessor staff to prison for racketeering and fraud. This proves property taxes don’t work and the system is failing fast. Good for Wyoming to be first in abolishing a broken system
Fantastic decision for Wyoming.
Please read the Sixteenth (16th) Amendment to the Constitution. It clearly states Taxes are to be implemented on realized gains, incomes specifically. What if you never sell your home? There is no income generated. If you are taxed every year on the appraised value of your home, you are giving the local government your future equity in your home. There’s nothing complicated about that, it’s simply breaking the law.