Bill draft lowering registration fees for older vehicles could cost Fremont County $450,000, Commissioner says

(Lander, WY) – Fremont County Commissioner Mike Jones expressed concern this week about a legislative proposal that would lower registration fees for older vehicles in Wyoming.

“That was the one that scared me a little bit,” Jones said during a Commission meeting Tuesday. “I know it’s going to hit us (financially).”

Currently, state statute requires county registration fees to be calculated at 3 percent of 60 percent of the factory price, plus special equipment value, for a vehicle in its first year of service, according to Wyoming Statute 31-3-101.

As the vehicle ages, the percentage of the factory price used in that calculation decreases, to 50 percent in the second year of service, 40 percent in its third year of service, 30 percent in its fourth year of service, 20 percent in its fifth year of service, and 15 percent in its sixth year of service and thereafter, the statute says.

House Bill 30 would add two more age categories to that list, allowing registration fees to be calculated at even lower rates for vehicles in their seventh and eighth years of service (10 percent of the factory price and 5 percent of the factory price, respectively).

Fiscal note

The fiscal note attached to the legislation estimates that the bill would reduce county vehicle registration fees by $62.3 million in fiscal year 2027, $65 million in fiscal year 2028, and $70 million in fiscal year 2029.

About 57 percent of the reduction would appear as a revenue decrease for Wyoming’s Public School Foundation Program account, the fiscal note states, while almost 43 percent of the reduction appears as a revenue decrease to counties and local entities. 

“This bill may require the Legislature to appropriate additional funds from the SFP for increased entitlement payments to ensure sufficient funding is available to offset the reduction in revenue generated by the county vehicle registration fees,” the fiscal note states.

During a Fremont County Library Systems Board meeting this week, Jones explained that, by statute, any losses sustained by local schools as a result of the legislation would be “backfilled” by the state.

That’s not the case “for the rest of us,” however, he said, reporting that, based on an estimate from Fremont County Treasurer Jim Anderson, the bill “would impact Fremont County at $450,000.”

Wyoming Rep. Joel Guggenmos, R-Riverton, is a co-sponsor on the bill.

The 68th Wyoming Legislature convenes Monday in Cheyenne.