WACO Kicks Off Tuesday

WACO is set to begin on Tuesday at the Ramkota in Casper, with the Public Officer Training session to be conducted by the Wyoming Department of Audit.

Here’s the WCTA agenda for the week.

Here’s the complete WACO agenda.

And here’s a map of the Ramkota hotel. Treasurers will meet in the Central Ballroom.

Welcome to New Treasurers

Welcome to new County Treasurers that were recently sworn into their first terms:

Nicole Vigil, Big Horn County
Tammy Deisch, Laramie County
Katie Araas, Sheridan County
Mark Cowan, Sweetwater County

New Officers Elected

Congratulations to Emily, who was voted in as the new President of the association at the WACO meetings in Gillette. Congratulations also to Leticia, who will be the new Vice-President. Thanks to Tracy for maintaining her position as Treasurer and Doris for agreeing to serve as the association’s secretary. We appreciate your service!

WACO Set for Gillette

The WACO Board has finalized the agenda for the WACO Convention, set for September 27th through 29th at the CamPlex in Gillette. Here’s a link to the agenda. The WCTA events are in blue.

2022 WACO Agenda

Interim Bills to Watch

As the committees continue their interim work, there are several bills of interest to Treasurers. Those to keep an eye on include:

Residential property taxation amendment

Off road recreational vehicles – safety and insurance

Lightweight trailers – permanent registration

Property tax – homestead exemption

Special license plate – community colleges

Interim Topics Released

The Management Council has released the interim topics that each standing legislative committee will focus on prior to the 2022 legislative session. Notable topics include:

Revenue Committee
Distribution of Existing Revenue Streams – review all revenues and distribution to local governments
Review of Tax Exemptions
Property Taxes and Taxes on Agricultural Land and Business Personal Property

Transportation Committee
Replacement of the RIS system

Bills to Watch

As the Legislative Committees continue to meet, they are discussing issues and developing bills that are of interest to Treasurers. Some of those issues and bills are listed here, with links and noting which committee is working the bill:

Real estate transfer tax (Revenue) — a tax on property sales price, collected by Treasurers.

Transportation computer system funding (Transportation) — adds a $5 fee to all registrations.

Antique motor vehicle definition (Transportation) — changes definition of antique vehicle. Committee voted to table bill but form a working group to rework antique plate, cost, eligibility and use requirements.

Tax lien enforcement – amendments (Minerals) — amendments to the lien statutes passed in the last legislative session.

WTA Hosts Tax Forum

The Wyoming Taxpayers Association hosted a forum entitled, “A Twenty Year Review of Tax Reform 2000,” discussing the effort twenty years ago to reform the tax system and where we are today. The forum can be viewed here:

Upcoming Legislative Meetings

Legislative meetings are continuing as committees work on interim issues. Upcoming meetings of interest include:

Transportation – July 10 — Online — Link to Details

Appropriations — July 13-15 — Online — Link to Details

Revenue — Aug 24-25 — Green River — Link to Details

Transportation Releases Agenda

The Joint Transportation Committee has announced their meeting on May 21-22, 2020, which will be conducted online.

The meeting agenda was also posted, showing the committee will focus on transportation issues on the 21st and military issues on the 22nd.

The meeting will be live-streamed at www.wyoleg.gov.