Around the 307
News, commentary, and other items of interest from the greater Wyoming landscape.
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Here are Cowboy State news stories you’ll likely want to know about for the week of March 17th, 2024:
I’m sad to say, we’ll have to start with some bad news. You may recall over the past few weeks I’ve been reporting on the slate of property tax relief bills that made their way through the Wyoming Legislature’s 2024 Budget Session and landed on the Governor’s desk for signature earlier in the month. Well, with just a few hours to spare before he could have let one final property tax relief bill go into law without signing it our Governor, Mark Gordon, decided he would veto that bill which sadly is the one most likely to have provided all of us with the greatest amount of property tax relief over the next two years. Here’s a recap of the property tax relief bills the Governor signed and the one he did not:
Original House Bill 3, establishing a 50% property tax reduction for long-term homeowners (i.e., for those age 65 and older who have paid property taxes in Wyoming for 25 years or more), was signed into law as House Enrolled Act 44 (HEA 44) by Governor Gordon on March 21st. The legislation will become effective on January 1st, 2025.
As a self-proclaimed “lifelong resident of Wyoming” who is over the age of 65, it would seem Governor Gordon will benefit from HEA 44.
Original House Bill 4 expanding Wyoming’s property tax refund program to people who make up to 145% of the median income for the applicant's county of residence or the state, was signed into law as HEA 52 by Governor Gordon on March 21st. Note the Governor reduced the bill’s original 165% of median income to 145% with a line item veto. HEA 52 goes into effect for tax year 2024.
Original House Bill 45 placing a 4% cap on year-to-year property tax increases in Wyoming, was signed into law as HEA 54 by Governor Gordon on March 21st. HEA 54 goes into effect for tax year 2024.
The Governor also approved Senate File 89, as Senate Enrolled Act 61 (SEA 61) increasing the amount for the veterans' ad valorem exemption from $3,000 to $6,000 annually. SEA 61 goes into effect for tax year 2025.
Senate File 54 would have provided a 25% tax exemption applicable to the first $2,000,000 (two million dollars) of a home’s fair market value, however, Governor Gordon vetoed this bill calling it a a “socialistic type of wealth transfer.” You can read the Governor’s veto letter here which left me scratching my head more than a little and in all honesty made my blood pressure go up just a tad.
The optics—as I dare to use that word—on all this appear to indicate our Governor is okay with receiving a 50% break on his own property taxes, but is not okay with giving a 25% break to the rest of us. Where’s that blood pressure cuff again?
Should you be so inclined, you can contact the Governor at this link to let him know your thoughts on all this—I know I will.
If you would like to torment yourself further, you can read a more detailed recap here at Cowboy State Daily on the fate of this year’s property tax bills to include reactions by some state legislators.
[Original photo credit enciktepstudio/Shutterstock; graphic composition by Ruzena Rok.]
Now on to some more positive news—mountain bluebirds are back! I saw one while out walking the hound just yesterday and Buckrail published this story on Tuesday, March 19th. These beauties are among the first songbirds to return to our Greater Yellowstone ecosystem each spring in search of suitable nesting areas.
[Photo credit: Sparky Stensaas/the Photo Naturalist] And, continuing on the lighter side, on Friday, March 22nd, WyoFile published this article and photo essay by photographer Evan Barrientos capturing the beauty of a part of Wyoming known informally as The Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle stretches from Highway 28 and Farson, Wyoming, north to the Big Sandy River, and east of highway US 191 in the Green River Valley south of Pinedale. A whopping 93% of The Golden Triangle is public land.
[Photo credit: Evan Barrientos] That’s all for today buckaroos! Thanks for tolerating yet another somewhat snarky read on the topic of property taxes. I hope the pretty pictures partially make up for the latter. Have a great week folks!
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