Voter inititative just shy of target

The Secretary of State’s Office announced at the beginning of the week that the people’s initiative looking to create a property tax exemption for homeowners through a ballot measure has not gathered quite enough signatures to be valid.

The committee’s submission saw 28,700 accepted valid signatures, of the 29,730 required by law based on the number of votes cast in the last general election.

On the other hand, it did achieve the required amount of signatures to equal 15% of voters in at least two thirds of counties.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray wrote that, Wyoming law allows the committee to cure with a subsequent submittal prior to the end of the circulation date on April 13, 2025.”

This means that the committee can submit additional petition packets with new signatures for review, or correct errors and omissions made on the signatures already collected.

Gray included a caution that, because the deadline to do this will be November 5, the required number of signatures will change.

“Based on historic trends, the number of signatures required will likely increase after the 2024 General Election,” he wrote.

The committee has until April 13 to collect the supplementary signatures.

The initiative is the work of BCR Voter Initiatives, a group that is aiming to see residential property taxes to be cut by 50%. The committee’s work began in response to the climbing tax rates in part of the state and a lack of confidence that the legislature would grant relief during this year’s session.

The group stated during its signature-gathering campaign that it would continue its efforts whether or not the legislature passed bills as a “firewall” to prevent the legislation from being “watered down”.

“I want to commend the petition’s Committee of Applicants for all their hard work in exercising their Wyoming Constitutional right to enact laws by the initiative,” Gray said.

“Property tax reduction is a very important issue facing our state. The people’s right to propose and enact laws by initiative to address fundamental issues, such as property tax limits, is pivotal.”