Legal legislator refers to a decrease in property tax will harm future generations of Wyoming – Daily Cowboy State Daily

It is one thing to reduce the money that goes to the budget, but it is a completely different task to find out what the money should no longer be spent.

These are the legislators of the puzzle in Wyoming’s legislation are trying to understand in their quest to reduce ownership taxes, which is significantly increasing in certain parts of the state after the Covid-19 pandemia, but have since returned to historical norms.

State representative JD Williams, R-Lusk, is very concerned that his fellow legislators do not consider future generations of Wyoming with the way they make a reduction in ownership tax in this year’s legislative session.

Williams said in a Monday on Facebook Post After holding a recent mayoralty, he found that many of his voters believe that the relief of ownership tax was more than an election year than something that would help their local communities.

Property tax revenue goes to local schools and governments, including special areas that support local hospitals and services for ambulances, weeds and pests and cemeteries, among others. Williams said the elderly came to his meeting, wondering about the future of local senior centers.

Filling down down

A number of different filling options have been proposed that partially support these entities if any of the ownership tax bills adopts the law. Tax reduction claims that filling is unstable in the long run.

Williams said his constituents have determined that “the filling is not sustainable and is only an auxiliary group of a very large, self -inflicted wound to reduce ownership tax.”

In addition, none of the offered filling options will support local schools.

“These rural schools are large employers in small cities, this is a place for social gathering for the whole community,” Williams told Cowboy State Daily. “This is a lack of understanding of our culture when you attack this.”

Williams also said that during the 2024 session, legitimate measures were adopted to alleviate ownership tax, as a 4% restriction on tax increases during the year. During the November elections, voters also accepted amendment to the Constitution, which allows legislators to reduce the rate of tax assessment.

“People need to alleviate property, but we can do it without shaving future generations with high tax burden,” Williams said. “Almost as if some are more concerned about their next election. We’re talking about the next cycle. We’re not talking about grandchildren. “

Finding a way to replace lost tax revenue will probably have a reduction effect that will lead to a stroke of the permanent mineral confidence trust fund that generates money for the state based on income from investment earned by the mineral profit Industry.

“Most people understand the long -term trend in mineral revenue,” Williams said. “Do we trade intelligent decision making for short -term political points?”

Political opportunism?

Williams also said that people asked him if the majority in the house was really interested in turning to the relief of property tax or was used as a political eclipse to help them stay in power.

“Good question,” Williams said in response.

This refers to the cause of Wyoming Freedom, the group that Williams is not a member of this, urgently insisted on reducing ownership tax.

The reporter Bill Alemand, R-Midwest, a member of The Freedom Caucus, said he was not a fan of widespread tax exemptions, as he believes they choose winners and losses. But he also pointed out the fact that all major property tax accounts that are considered to be this session will expire in two years.

He said that fears about the problems of ownership tax will be resolved through wider changes in the general tax structure and indicated the bill that would make taxes on ownership based on the purchase price of the home as an example of long -term reform.

“It’s a real reform,” Alemand said. “Why do we need all these other exceptions when all we need is a real reform?”

What about the cost?

Allemand believes that one of the best solutions of the ownership tax puzzle would be to reduce government costs and taxes raised by mineral companies.

“We have to reform our expenses and reform our taxes, but they have to go together,” he said. “You can’t do one without the other.”

Many members of Caucus Freedom, such as Allemand, have also criticized how much money the state is saving, while property taxes continue to increase.

“When we invest $ 1 billion in the bank, we take money from someone we don’t have to do because we shouldn’t put that much money in the bank,” Allemand said.

During the legislative session in 2024, the legislature invested $ 700 million in savings after scoring $ 1.4 billion in the previous year.

Williams believes that the money invested in savings will be invaluable to financing the state in the future, as mineral revenue continues to decrease.

“There were many conversations about saving too much, but overall the wealth for the coming generations is maintained,” Williams said.

Wyoming has long hosted a cycle of boom and caust, heavily dependent on the whims of the mineral industry. The legislature has taken the approach to save significant resources for difficult times, observed in 2020 and 2016.

“We have a long tradition of investing in future generations here in Wyoming,” Williams said. “This is how you act as a good health of the mineral funds for the next generations.”

Most of the members of the cause of freedom who insisted on the cuts were not in the legislature during these recession events, but Williams was not both of them.

His area is in an unusual position, since his region of the state has not survived almost as much increases in ownership tax as other parts of Wyoming and has no mineral wealth to return for its savings. As a result, a 50% reduction in taxes in the Nobra County would be a huge blow to the local government of Williams, as it did not significantly increase its budget due to increasing taxes.

Leo Wolfson can be reached [email protected].