A trio of Wyoming State Representatives say property tax increases are forcing Wyoming residents from their homes, and the problem will only get worse if the taxes are not cut.

Representatives Ann Lucas [R-Laramie County], Tony Locke [R-Natrona County] and Steve Johnson [R-Laramie County] appeared on Saturday on the 'Weekend in Wyoming" program on am 650, KGAB. All three are strong supporters of cutting residential property taxes. Locke also chairs the House Revenue Committee, while Johnson and Lucas are freshman lawmakers.

Lucas says that for all of the lawmakers, property taxes were the top issue they heard about from voters during the 2024 campaign. She says candidates constantly heard that "for  most of the folks we talked to that this was one of the overriding issues for them, It wasn't number one in every case, but it was right up there at the top."

Lucas said she heard from people in her district "that I am one increase away from either getting rid of my house or getting another job."

Locke says in 2019, residential property taxes generated $387 million. By comparison, those same taxes generated $652 million in 2024. He says the increases vary somewhat by county, but the fact that overall they have increased by $260 million in five years is significant.

Lucas said her property taxes have almost doubled.

Locke says that while he understands the challenges increased costs have placed on county governments, homeowners are facing the same challenges. He says those challenges don't just include property taxes, but also insurance.

Rep. Locke: Potential Death Spiral Looms

He says one concern is a "death spiral. Sooner or later you tax people people out of their homes, you create a worse problem. So it's an issue we have to address."

Lucas says foreclosures due to non-payment of taxes are at an all-time high across the state. She says seniors are especially being impacted "because Social Security and pension checks don't raise.'

As for replacing lost property tax revenues with an increase in sales taxes, Locke says "We're trying not to swap one tax for another. Lucas says one problem is that the sales taxes ''will never go down."

Rep. Lucas: Cuts Can Be Made In Local Spending

In regard to concerns raised by local governments about how the decreased revenues form lower property taxes would impact them, Lucas says  'Our local governments don't ever seem to want to talk about how to reduce spending. They can't even feature it. And I've never heard one of them say 'we can and should reduce spending."

She says the first thing they talk about cutting is law enforcement and firefighters. She says the fact is that spending could be reduced, adding that "some of them have some pretty high reserves.."

Johnson says Laramie County, for example, has $278 million in reserves. ''And if you think that police departments and fire departments are going to suffer from that, it's not true. They always hit you with 'the sky is falling, the sky is falling.' Don't believe what you see in print...it's a scare tactic."

He says the real issue is that that local governments just don't want to cut spending.

You can hear the entire interview with Reps. Locke, Lucas and Johnson below.

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Gallery Credit: Joy Greenwald

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