Senate's property tax bill changed in House from statewide to local approach

Yahoo

14-02-2025

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming House of Representatives has amended a hotly debated bill that would have applied a 50% cut to homeowners' property taxes statewide to instead give it a more localized approach.
The House approved a significant amendment to Senate File 69, 'Homeowner property tax exemption,' on second reading Thursday. Brought by Rep. Ken Clouston, R-Gillette, the amendment proposes a county-by-county approach to property tax relief based on a percentage of increase in a home's value, rather than an across-the-board, 50% cut to the value of a home.
A statewide, 50% property tax cut would have a disproportionate effect on each county, he said.
'Some of our counties and residences have seen a massive increase in property taxes. Others haven't,' Clouston said. 'I do feel like it is fair and equitable. This is based on actual increases for a specific piece of property. It is not some random 50% off everything, no matter what your increase or decrease was.'
Included in the amendment is language that the state Department of Revenue 'shall calculate and publish, by county, the average increase in assessed valuation for residential properties for the 2019 through 2024 period.' The department would also create rules to govern calculation of the reduction in assessed valuation for each county.
Under Clouston's amendment, a county like Niobrara would suffer a loss of $70,951 in collected revenue — half of what the increased property taxes have been, Clouston said. Teton County would be cut $21 million, but that county has seen skyrocketing property values.
Clouston's amendment does not include any backfill, and stipulates that cuts would go into effect in 2026. It also repeals a sunset date of two years included in a previous version of the bill.
'I didn't want, in two years, to see this massive increase when we went back to our old system,' Clouston said. 'This would be the tax rate for that property, reset.'
Many representatives spoke in favor of Clouston's amendment, which passed in a voice vote. Essentially, it would mean that residents in counties that have seen their tax bills increase the most would receive relief proportional to those increases. Wyoming residents who live in counties that have not seen massive increases and live in places were property tax revenue is necessary for operations like police, fire and special districts, would also not face a mandatory 50% cut.
Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan (2025)
Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan
'This is the correct route to go,' Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, said. 'This addresses the problem in the most elegant way. Fifty percent of the increase. Not just a flat 50% cut everywhere.'
Rep. J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs, said the method would address the core problem that not all Wyoming counties are the same.
Rep. J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs (2025)
Rep. J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs
'This gets us moving in the right direction. It is addressing the core problem that some counties did see major increases. We feel for those people. We want to address those problems,' said Lawson, whose home county of Sweetwater has seen a 19.5% increase in property values since 2019.
'Some counties didn't see those major increases, but we still want to help our people out a little bit,' Larson said.
Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, said on Wednesday night that he believed the House was being asked to formulate tax policy 'on the false premise that a 50% property tax is needed statewide.' On Thursday, he said he would vote for Clouston's amendment.
Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper (2025)
Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper
'I asked last night where that 50% number came from,' Washut said. 'It wasn't really a reality in most of our counties. We were either way above 50% or way below 50%. I like this approach in that it ties us to a real number, and it gets us back to talking about where we are in each different county.'
Past, future discussions
Before the bill crossed over to the House, the Senate discussed amendments that would address 'hardship' counties, but none were adopted. One proposed by Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Torrington, would have treated counties differently based on an $850 million collection threshold. That amendment failed, as did another one brought by Sen. Stacy Jones, R-Rock Springs, that would have used state savings to backfill, or pay back, local governments for 12.5% of the lost revenue under the cut.
Across the state, property taxes increased 65.2% between 2019 and 2023. That average is skewed by an outlier county, Teton, which saw the highest increase at 111%, for a dollar change of $103.7 million. For five years in a row, Teton County has lowered its own mill levies, the local mechanism for collecting property taxes.
In Laramie County, property taxes have increased by 53.7% over the same time period, meaning the county has collected $28.9 million more than it did six years ago.
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, said she would support Clouston's amendment but that she was in favor of backfill, even if relief is calculated on a county-by-county basis.
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland (2025)
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland
'I do think we are getting closer to actually targeting the problem,' Lawley said. 'But I do not agree with the bringer's idea that we need no backfill. This affects hardship counties differently. … This doesn't really take into account how much the county depends on property taxes.'
The House can continue to amend the bill on third reading, and Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, said several new amendments were already stacking up on his desk.
Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, pointed out that SF 69 and House Bill 169, 'Homeowner tax exemption-2025 and 2026,' will likely head to a joint conference committee to reconcile changes to each bill, with the possible goal of bringing just one all the way through the session.
As it made its way to the Senate, HB 169 included a 50% exemption to a single-family home up to $1 million in value for two years, with $125 million in backfill.
'I think we pass this (amendment) today, and I think we move this idea,' Harshman said. 'The old idea has already crossed over. … This is a chance for this house to have a new idea.'
The House is scheduled to discuss SF 69 on third reading on Tuesday. HB 169 has been received in the Senate, but has not yet been referred to committee.