
On Wednesday, January 8, I attended the Americans for Prosperity (AFP) legislative event at the downtown Metropolitan restaurant. According to the website, “AFP volunteers and advocates engage friends and neighbors on key issues and encourage them to take an active role in building a culture of mutual benefit, where people succeed by helping one another.”
AFP invited several of our state legislators to this event to discuss their thoughts on the many bills coming before the legislative body during this session. Some of the bills included ones relating to education, mineral revenue, and property taxes. It was an excellent opportunity for community members to interact with their elected representatives.
One of the bills put forward this legislative session would cut residential property taxes, across-the-board by 25%. And this does not even take into consideration an amendment that will be put before the voters in 2026 to cut residential property taxes across-the-board by 50%.
As property taxes stay local in the communities and fund everything from schools to public safety, a reduction of this magnitude will likely have long-term negative impacts on the quality of life and Laramie County.
I have heard several legislators talk about backfilling the reduction in property tax revenue through tapping into the states serves, but this is not a viable long-term solution. Wyoming does have a significant level of reserves, but it will not take too many years to burn through it, which would then necessitate looking at other taxation options to help support local counties and municipalities. Wyoming may be forced to look at a state income tax at that point.