With property tax relief initiative going on general election ballot, opposition forms in state

A property tax relief initiative that will go on this year’s general election ballot already is stirring up organized opposition.

A “Vote NO on Initiative #1” campaign has been launched, including interest groups like the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, Wyoming Education Association and Wyoming County Commissioners Association. 

The coalition is registered as the “VOTE NO ON PROP 1” political action committee with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office.

The ballot initiative would indefinitely exempt half of a property’s assessed value from taxes if the owner lives there at least six months out of the year. The homeowner would need to live in Wyoming for a year prior to qualify. But the land that the home sits on wouldn’t qualify for the tax exemption. The exemption would not apply to land, only the value of the residential “primary residence” defined as a “house, trailer house, mobile home, transportable home or other dwelling place.”

Hank Hoversland, executive director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association and a member of the coalition, said its obvious goal is to defeat the initiative.

“But also to remind people that property taxes pay for services,” Hoversland said on Thursday. “They’re an important way that citizens come together, pool their resources to fund services that they couldn’t provide on their own.”

He said voter education will come in many ways: forums, door knocking, mailers, editorials and more.

The group also hopes to call attention to how the Legislature has “taken a lot of steps to deal with this issue,” Hoversland said. Property tax relief in the form of tax caps, exemptions and funneling millions into refund programs have swirled the past few years.

Hoversland noted that the Legislature still hasn’t done anything with the constitutional amendment passed in 2024.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien, who spearheaded the ballot initiative known colloquially as the “People’s Initiative,” still doesn’t think the Legislature’s actions are enough. He isn’t surprised a coalition has formed and said that he expects upward of  $1 million to be spent on dissuading people to vote for the tax cut.

“I see this as a mark of preserving big government,” Bien said.

In November, voters will decide whether or not to give themselves the significant tax break on residential property taxes.

If passed, Wyoming Department of Revenue officials anticipate a $124.7 million revenue decrease statewide in the first year. The large majority of that goes toward public schools, while the rest impacts local governments and special districts, like hospitals and weed and pest control.

Bien doesn’t think that essential services, such as those provided by law enforcement or first responders, are going to suffer.

“Given all the money that we have in this state, something is not adding up here,” he said.