Governor calls for property tax relief

Among the details added to Governor Mark Gordon’s budget proposal last week was a proposal to offer more property tax relief to the Wyoming residents most impacted by inflation: seniors and people living on fixed incomes.

“As you know, inflation reached a 40-year high in 2022, resulting in sky-rocketing property values and significant increases and thus homeowners now are seeing higher bills for property taxes,” the governor wrote in a letter to the Joint Appropriations Committee.

“Many Wyoming low-to-moderate income households are struggling to meet the increased property tax burden, especially those on fixed incomes.”

The governor pointed out that the effect of inflation on energy prices has resulted in “unexpected revenues” for the state. To provide relief for Wyoming’s most impacted residents, he proposed an additional $1 million appropriation for the Property Tax Refund Program.

In the program’s first year of 2003, the state received 487 applications and issued $74,534 in refunds. By 2019, this had risen to 1411 applications and $752,320 in refunds, and the revenue downturn in 2020 meant the Department of Revenue Administrative Services Division had to turn back funding for the second half of that biennium.

The Department of Revenue received a record number of applications in 2021, with nearly two thirds of the biennial budget spent in that first year.

“The Legislature appropriated $3 million for the 2023-2024 biennium to provide partial refunds to qualifying taxpayers who paid their 2021 and 2022 property taxes,” wrote the governor.

“Staff has processed more than 4400 applications for this biennium and refunds totaling $1,460,548 were mailed to taxpayers.”

The $1 million, Gordon said, would address the significant increase in applications that is expected through this biennium. He also said he would support expansion of the program or other options to provide property tax relief.

Additional suggestions

Gordon wrote a total of 21 letters to the Joint Appropriations Committee with an emphasis on addressing the pressures caused by inflation on the people of Wyoming, as well as saving for the future and making strategic investments. His suggestions included:

• Depositing over $412 million in the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund as an investment for the future.

• An additional $50 million as matching funds for private or federal funding for energy projects to send a “strong signal” that Wyoming is “serious about developing energy-related projects”.

• $14.45 million in general funds for inflationary costs related to delivering state services to address the latest overall inflation rate for Wyoming of 10.1%.

• Implementation of the second phase of the state’s compensation adjustment plan to assist in recruiting and retaining troopers, correctional officers, plow drivers and other state employees in areas where large percentages of the needed positions remain unfilled due to state employee wages lagging, on average, almost 17% behind the 2022 marketplace.

• $10 million for the Mineral Royalty Grant program to support small communities with their infrastructure needs.

• An extra $26 million in direct distribution for cities, towns and counties for “one-time investments like infrastructure”.

• Hydrologic modeling on the Green River and Little Snake River basins to improve focus on the management of Wyoming’s water resources.

• $1.48 million for predator management districts for the Animal Damage Management Program.

• $1.5 million for a new invasive species account to address potential issues with aquatic invasive species, such as zebra mussels.

• $500,000 to increase brucellosis herd testing for livestock in more areas of the state.

• $35 million for the Tomorrow Scholarship Fund, $5 million for the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust and $8 million for the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.

• A one-time injection of $68 million from the General Fund and $34 million from the School Foundation Program to increase retirement benefits for the 34,000 pensioners in the Wyoming Retirement System, which has not increased since 2008.

• A transfer of $248 million from the School Foundation Program account into the Common School Permanent Land Fund to assist in generating revenue from investments to pay for K-12 education.