Senate's 50% property tax bill passes on first reading in the House

Yahoo

14-02-2025

CHEYENNE — A 50% property tax reduction bill that passed the Senate on three readings has passed for the first time in the House.
Wednesday evening, the House used a voice vote to approve Senate File 69, 'Homeowner property tax exemption.' It must pass two more times in the House to advance.
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, explained that there are a few differences between two of the most prominent bills in the current session that remain alive and offer property tax relief: SF 69 and House Bill 169, 'Homeowner tax exemption-2025 and 2026.'
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette (2025)
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette
Both apply a 50% exemption to a single-family home up to $1 million in value for two years only. However, SF 69 includes an exemption for associated land, while HB 169 does not. That means the reduction in revenue to all entities that receive revenue from property taxation would be reduced by about $525 million under SF 69, as compared to about $400 million under HB 169, Bear said.
The other major difference between the bills is that the Senate file does not provide local entities with any backfill, or allocation from state savings to offset lost taxation revenue due to the exemption.
'We worked hard to attempt to put backfill in HB 169, but also we did good work on the budget, and put a backfill there, as well,' Bear said.
Rep. Julie Jarvis, R-Casper, said she could not support SF 69 — and she did not vote for HB 169 — because it would have an outsized effect on all of Wyoming. The cuts, she said, will also draw the state's savings down to nothing.
Rep. Julie Jarvis, R-Casper (2025)
Rep. Julie Jarvis, R-Casper
'We are not in a financial crisis, but we are about to be in a really big one, and it was self-induced, self-created,' Jarvis said.
Rep. Pam Thayer, R-Rawlins, said her constituents are asking for property tax relief, but also want continued local services.
'What if we did 25% relief and 25% backfill? Let's come with solutions for the people of Wyoming,' Thayer said.
Although she did not propose an amendment, for a time, the tax cut under SF 69 was 25%, but by the time the bill left the Senate, it had been restored to its original 50%.
Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, said he was in favor of the full 50% cut, without specifying which bill he preferred. Knapp also said that many of the arguments he'd heard on the floor Wednesday against the cut were simply 'rhetoric.'
Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette (2025)
Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette
'Last session, we gave them small relief,' Knapp said. 'That bought us time, in my opinion, to come to this session and look for long-term property tax relief solutions.'
All amendments fail on general file
Rep. Rob Geringer, R-Cheyenne, brought an amendment to SF 69 that would have required the Department of Revenue to distribute to each county treasurer a 50% compensation for the reduction in tax revenues due to the exemption.
Without that compensation, local services will struggle to meet the needs in their communities, he said. The Laramie County Sheriff's Office alone would be forced to cut school resource officer programs, the mental health pod in the county jail, mental health treatment court programs and other things property tax revenue pays for, Geringer said.
Rep. Rob Geringer, R-Cheyenne (2025)
Rep. Rob Geringer, R-Cheyenne
'Just to be specific about what those impacts are, those are the kinds of things that he's looking at to cut when he has to tighten the belt,' Geringer said of Sheriff Brian Kozak, who outlined the potential cuts in a news release earlier this week.
Bear, however, urged the House to vote against Geringer's amendment, saying that it falls short on providing adequate backfill, as well as risks the governor's veto. Instead, Bear said he has brought a budget amendment to House Bill 1, 'General government appropriations-2,' to appropriate $72 million from the general fund to the Department of Revenue for payments to qualifying counties.
'It falls short, if you want to provide real backfill, but also because I don't think it is going to take this bill to the finish line,' Bear said.
For nearly an hour, representatives debated the amendment, as well as the bill itself. Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, said the bill — even with backfill — would disproportionately affect some counties more than others.
'Is this going to hurt counties without a backfill? You bet. Can some of these counties handle it? Probably a little bit. Are some of these counties going to be hit really hard and not be able to provide these services like EMT, like fire? You bet. Some of these counties can't even do it as it stands.'
Rep. Bob Davis, R-Baggs, said he was against not only the amendment, but the bill as a whole. Property taxes across Wyoming have come up an average of 17.27% since 2015.
'In nine years, that is not much of an increase. That is not even keeping up with inflation,' Davis said. 'These bills that we've already enacted are doing something. … I am not on for the amendment, and I am not for the bill.'
Geringer's amendment failed in a voice vote.
Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, proposed three other amendments to the bill, each including an inflation adjustment to the amount of value exempted from property taxes beginning in 2027. Those amendments also included an increased additional sales tax of under 1%, with transfer of funding gathered to a 'property tax reduction and replacement account.'
Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper (2025)
Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper
Bear urged the body not to vote for Harshman's amendments, although he said he supported them in concept.
'I think it is the wrong time. It needs to be vetted more,' he said.
Harshman's first and third amendments failed, and he withdrew the second.
SF 69 will face up to two more readings in the House, with the chance for amendments on both readings.