The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee advanced five property tax reform plans Wednesday, for consideration in the lawmaking session that opens Feb. 9.
One of the measures, if passed by the Legislature and the people of Wyoming, would change the state Constitution to eliminate residential property tax altogether.
A bill that would trigger into place after passage of that constitutional amendment would increase Wyoming’s base sales tax of 4%, to 6%.
Many counties have added optional local taxes and tax their consumers at 5% or 6% already, or in the case of Teton County, at 7%.
The local governments and schools that benefit from residential property taxes are expected to lose, collectively, $644 million per year if the amendment passes, says a Wyoming Legislative Service Office (LSO) document that draws from 2025 assessments.
Each new “penny” or 1% sales tax brings the state about $237.5 million based on the 2025 distribution, Wyoming Department of Revenue Director Brett Fanning told the committee as it met Wednesday in Cheyenne.
So the 2% increase would bring $475 million “give or take,” he said.
The bill also would exempt “big projects,” as Fanning put it. Its language carves out industrial facilities permitted through the Industrial Siting Council from having to pay the added 2%.
