Rep. Lawley leads property tax discussion for Washakie County

On Monday, Oct. 23, State Rep. Martha Lawley (R-HD27, Worland) held a town hall meeting regarding property taxes.

Lawley said she wanted to follow up on this topic with the community, as she promised she would earlier in the year. Lawley said like most others in the community, she is unhappy with the rising property taxes happening across the state and wants to work with others to find solutions. During her meeting, Lawley shared knowledge with those in attendance and had the opportunity to let community members share their thoughts on the topic. Lawley was joined by Ashley Harpstreith from Wyoming Taxpayers Association and State Sen. Ed Cooper (R-SD20, Ten Sleep).

PROPERTY TAXES IN WYO., WASHAKIE COUNTY

Harpstreith began the town hall meeting by doing a deep dive into the role that property taxes play in the state of Wyoming and in Washakie County. Property taxes largely go toward local services in a variety of ways. In Wyoming, according to Harpstreith, “the biggest user of property taxes is public schools, which takes 69%; 17% goes to county government and 8% goes to special districts.” Specifically in Washakie County, 26.81% of property taxes goes toward “Local Public Schools” and 25.78% goes toward the “State General School,” according to figures provided by Lawley at the meeting. Other recipients of property tax money are the State School Foundation, the county, libraries, weed and pest/conservation district and others.

Harpstreith additionally noted that Wyoming has the fourth lowest residential property tax in the nation, in terms of residential property taxes. Harpstreith said, “For federal funds in the year 2020, Wyoming citizens and businesses sent over $6.4 billion to the federal government and did receive $7 billion back in payment through employment, supporting our parks, federal matching dollars for roads. Overall, we have a very low tax burden. For the average Wyomingite, they pay $1 in taxes and get about $7 back.”

Washakie County Commissioner Chairman Aaron Anderson attended the meeting and urged the public to realize how the county relies on property tax money. According to Anderson, the county is largely funded from three sources, and one of the three significant sources are property taxes. Anderson said, “I think we have to be careful as we look at these property tax initiatives. You know, that’s a third of a stool that is a gigantic dollar figure to Washakie County. We just have to be careful because in any given year, those two other legs could potentially disappear […] I know that I don’t love property taxes myself, but there are other things out there to consider. When you call the ambulance, we want somebody to show up. There are bigger games at play.”

INCREASING TAXES

Lawley said, “In Washakie County, and there’s probably a consensus that in about every county in Wyoming, no one has actually raised your tax rate. What’s happened is that your property has increased in value and that increased valuation resulted in an increased tax burden. I want to say that because again, it goes back to this principle that it’s really important to understand what is the source of the problem in order to actually fix the problem.”

Lawley went on to say one major source of the increase valuation is people moving to Wyoming and she said, “We have new people coming in, some have upward mobility, and with new people moving in, many of them have quite a bit of cash because they’ve sold a house somewhere with an already inflated market. They’re coming here and wanting to reinvest that money, and many of them are willing to pay whatever, so it doesn’t take many of those to skew the whole valuation system.”

However, Lawley said that she isn’t wanting an “anti-people-moving-here” attitude and isn’t putting blame on those who have located to Wyoming and Washakie County, as “none of us can control [people moving in].” She said that inflation should be taken into consideration as well. “Inflation is causing everything to go higher. So now we have these construction costs, look at what’s happening there,” she said when discussing how many factors come into play, resulting in a “perfect storm.”

SOLVING THE

PROBLEM

When it comes to finding solutions, Lawley said, “I do think the Legislature long term has some really challenging decisions to make about our revenue system. I wanted to introduce you guys to these concepts because there are no easy answers. I haven’t found an easy answer on almost anything in Legislature. But you know, I like to tackle big problems.”

The two concepts that Lawley wanted people to know about are hardship counties and backfilling. Hardship counties, such as Washakie and Big Horn counties, are counties that generate less than $300,000 per mill assessed. Backfilling, the second concept, ties into hardship counties. Lawley said, “Backfilling is when the state comes in and backfills that money to the county, especially to hardship counties.”

Commissioner Chairman Anderson said one of the three sources of money for Washakie County, aside from property taxes, is money the county receives for being a hardship county. He said, “Sometimes I’m amazed that the larger counties in Wyoming advocate on behalf of the smaller counties, because it really is at the whim of the Legislature […] it may not be supported by some of the bigger counties because it pulls money from them into this county.”

Backfilling, as a matter of practice, should not be used to solve everything in the state, said Lawley. Sometimes it is necessary, she said, but she worries that relying on these concepts could open the door to unwanted impacts.

Lawley made it clear that she prioritizes the issues surrounding property taxes through her first bill she introduced during her first legislative session earlier this year. She said, “I ran one bill as a freshman […] and I actually chose to run a property tax bill.” Explaining the bill, Lawley said that her bill was particularly for older people who have a declining income and want to stay on their property until they move out or pass away. The bill would have allowed these people to defer some property taxes and have the taxes be collected at the eventual sale. This bill passed in the House, but Lawley said it did not make it out of the Senate Revenue Committee. She said she does intend on bringing it back.

As for refunds, Lawley said, “There will be a robust addition to the refund we did last time. So the refund statue is going to have a lot more texture to it, in terms of the different ways people can qualify. There has been some really good reporting out from the Revenue Department about how that program has run very smoothly.” The property tax refund program is the most immediate relief that can be offered, she said, making it important that changes being made to the program help to close gaps by expanding qualifications.

Lawley said that she will closely watch what happens with the Revenue Committee at their Nov. 13 meeting in Cheyenne, as there are several active bills related to property taxes that can significantly impact people.

County Commissioner Terry Wolf attended the meeting and wanted people to know that they can be involved in the process through the county commissioners. People are open to voice their opinions on certain bills to the commissioners, who then meet as the Wyoming County Commissioners Association and take stances on every bill to inform legislators.

Following the property tax town hall meeting, Lawley said, “I’m really proud of the people in my district. I’m glad that people came and asked questions, and it’s important that people are heard.”