Wyoming House Passes 50 Percent Property Tax Cut Bill

After several hours of debate and numerous changes, the Wyoming House of Representatives on Wednesday signed off on a bill that will give most residential property owners in Wyoming a 50 percent cut in property taxes.

The Senate has already approved one version of Senate File 69. But there are significant differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill which may need to be hammered out in a joint conference committee.

House, Senate Differ On Local Government Funding

The key difference is on the issue of backfill to reimburse local governments for lost tax revenues. The final version passed by the House on Wednesday includes a 50 percent backfill. While some local officials across the state have expressed concerns about that lost revenue, the final Senate version of the bill includes no backfill at all.

That has officials with local governments  concerned. For example, Laramie County Commissioner Linda Heath has said that if that becomes law, it's possible that as many as 60 positions might have to be cut among county employees, with the alternative being a significant cut in county services, or some combination of the two. Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak has said his department might have to cut as many as 25 positions in addition to several programs.

But opponents of backfill say that the concept would basically mean funding one set of tax cuts with money from other sources, arguing that such a policy is neither fair nor sustainable. During Senate debate on whether to include backfill, Sen. Owen Driskill called the idea of backfill "socialism" and said the end result would be an increased tax burden on Wyoming's minerals and energy industries, which already provide the bulk of state revenues.

The House version of the bill has now been sent to the Senate for concurrence, but that is unlikely to happen. In all probability a Joint Conference Committee will try to hammer out a compromise that is acceptable to both houses.

If that happens, the final version of the bill would be sent to Governor Mark Gordon. Wyoming law forbids the governor from saying whether he will veto a bill that is pending in the legislature.