‘A win for the people of Wyoming’: Legislature passes 25 percent homeowner property tax exemption

(Cheyenne, WY) – The Wyoming Senate and Wyoming House of Representatives came to an agreement on a homeowner property tax exemption bill this week during a Joint Conference Committee meeting headed by Wyoming Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton.

“It was clear from the very beginning that the people of Wyoming wanted property tax relief,” Salazar said during the JCC meeting Thursday. “This is probably one of the most important issues facing the state legislature.”

Senate File 69 – now Senate Enrolled Act 60 – exempts 25 percent of the first $1 million of the fair market value of a single-family residential structure and its associated improved land from property taxes, with no backfill funding from the state.

“We don’t feel that the backfill is needed,” Salazar said, pointing out that the bill originally proposed a 50 percent property tax exemption, but “now we’re at 25 percent.”

“We feel that, at 25 percent, the hit is negligible,” Salazar said.

The new exemption is not available to anyone who receives the long-term homeowner property tax exemption the legislature passed last year.

SEA 60 is set to take effect immediately upon becoming law, with no sunset date.

“One of the reasons we came down for this session was to give property tax relief to our constituency,” Salazar said. “This is a means to do it. It’s substantive. They will feel the benefits this year. … I think it’s a win for the people of Wyoming.”