The Joint Interim Revenue Committee will meet on November 18th and 19th to discus a bevy of property tax bills.
The committee will consider a total of fourteen bills that have the potential of changing property tax revenues in Wyoming, from a bill that would exempt all state lands from taxation – even for non-governmental use – to bills that would automatically reduce a county’s mill levy based on prior year revenues.
One bill draft even targets the long-term homeowner tax exemption that hasn’t even been implemented yet. That draft removes language that would allow a surviving spouse of a qualified person to continue to receive the exemption.
The most comprehensive bill is a draft titled, “Tax reform 2025” that contains almost every property tax change that’s been proposed over the last couple sessions. Over twenty-five pages, the reform bill would decrease the industrial property tax rate from 11.5% to 9.5%, exempt $50,000 in market value of personal property, exempt the first $200,000 of residential property, and raise the property tax refund limit to $1,000, to name just a few of the changes.
It’s hard to know how much of the committee’s work will be used during the upcoming session that starts in January, and how much of it will be scrapped by a Revenue Committee that may look much different. The newly elected legislative leadership will appoint new members to the committee before the session.
More information on the meeting can be found on the Wyoming Legislative web site.
