WYOMING — Some residents of Teton County might have seen emails or heard murmurs of a proposition on the upcoming general election ballot this November: Proposition 1. If it passes, it would apply to the entire state of Wyoming, not only Teton County.
Early voting opens today, Oct. 6, and the Prop 1 vote could cut some Teton County homeowners’ tax bills by thousands of dollars while simultaneously pulling millions out of budgets that pay for local schools, ambulances and snow plows.
Prop 1 is a citizen initiative that was organized by Brent Bien and others, who submitted over 644 petition booklets with about 45,000 signatures to the Wyoming Secretary of State in May 2024. The document is formally titled “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Tax in Wyoming through a Homeowner’s Property Exemption.”
This initiative would exempt half of the assessed value of a qualifying residential home from property tax. Supporters of the initiative are describing it as overdue relief after property values sent bills soaring post-pandemic. Opponents, such as the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, say it would gut local services with no plan to replace the loss.
Who qualifies for the property tax exemption?
To qualify for the 50% property tax cut, owners must have lived in Wyoming for at least a year and live in the home six months a year. Anyone who claims the property tax exemption can’t claim other exemptions.
If passed, land would stay fully taxed, so bills wouldn’t be cut entirely in half. Homeowners would only see a 50% cut on the structure, not the land surrounding it.
According to Executive Director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association Hank Hoversland, numbers from the Wyoming Department of Revenue forecast Teton County to lose $32.5 million in the first year, if the proposition is passed. That would be the most of any county in Wyoming. Statewide, the loss would be around $125 million.
“It is important that people understand this is local money, not state money. The state is under no obligation to bail the counties out,” Teton County Assessor Melissa Shinkle told Buckrail. Property tax funds the county, town, school district and more than 30 special districts.
In Teton County specifically, numbers show that in the 2025 Tax Year, 78% of total mill levy — or property tax — distribution went to schools.
“No one is arguing that the Prop 1 People’s Initiative is a perfect solution to all our problems,” the Teton County Republican Party shared in a newsletter. “However, it is a first step in demanding that Cheyenne do something to alleviate the burden on Wyoming homeowners.”
Supporters argue state reserves could cover the gap.
Hoversland disagreed, noting the rainy day fund is meant for true emergencies and other state trust funds are constitutionally off-limits. “Backfill is not a sustainable option at this point,” he told Buckrail.
What’s a mill levy?
Mill levies are tax rates used by local governments to tax property. One mill equals $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value, and each taxing body sets its levy every year, up to a maximum set by state law.
Wyoming taxes homes on 9.5% of their market value, so if a home has a property value of $1 million, then the assessed value for property tax purposes would be $95,000. Each mill would then cost the owner of that home about $95 a year.
On the Teton County property tax bill
A property tax bill is made up of mill levies from several different entities all added together. For example, in 2025, a home in Teton County paid 55.799 mills in total, which would be around $5,400 a year on a $1 million home.
Most of that money goes to schools. The state school levy, the county school fund and the Teton County School District’s levies amount to 44.25 mills. The hospital, weed and pest, and the conservation district take smaller shares.
Teton County’s 2025 share was 7.879 mills out of the 12-mill maximum, which would mean that at that rate, the cost on a $1 million home would be about $750. If Teton County were to increase its mills to the full 12, that same homeowner would instead owe $1,140 for the county’s share of the property tax bill.
The Town of Jackson levies only 0.5 out of a possible 8 mills. If a residence lies within town limits, a homeowner must also pay for that levy, adding $47.50 a year on a $1 million home and bringing the in-town total to 57.299 mills, or about $5,450.
Those figures assume no tax exemptions. Full-time residents who claim the state’s existing 25% homeowner exemption are taxed on 75% of their home’s value, rather than the full 100%.
Shinkle also mentioned there is no official way to verify who actually lives in Teton County full-time, and that the County operates on the honor system.
“There is no requirement in statute anywhere, for any exemption, that dictates what proof of residency is,” Shinkle told Buckrail, which means anyone can claim full-time residency in Wyoming, even if they don’t have a Wyoming driver’s license. “There will be no way to police whether or not people are fibbing on [the claim that they are full-time Wyoming residents],” she said.
How other counties compare
While Teton County hasn’t used all of its mills, 21 out of 23 Wyoming counties have already maxed out their allowed property tax mills, meaning the loss would likely be recovered by making cuts to county services like law enforcement and schools.
Campbell County, home to Gillette, levies 10.95 of the 12 available mills. Its coal, oil, natural gas and uranium resources generate enough revenue to fund public services, including schools, without requiring a higher mill levy.
Based on DOR projections, Laramie County, which utilizes its maximum county mill levies, would lose around $18.25 million in the first year. Because it has maxed them out, Laramie County would have fewer choices to recover losses.
What happens if Prop 1 doesn’t pass?
Homeowners in Wyoming would still have: the existing 25% exemption on the first $1 million of value on the home for full-time residents; a long-term homeowner exemption for residents 65 and older; an annual refund program and a 4% cap on yearly value increases.
The long-term homeowner exemption is limited to residents 65 and older who have paid property taxes for 25 years, which is aimed at retirees on fixed incomes and the people most at risk of being taxed out of homes they’ve owned for decades. Shinkle said that exemption isn’t going anywhere: “No legislator is going to take away the exemption from a 65-year-old resident who’s paid taxes here for 25 years.”
“The beauty of property taxes is that they’re a local tax,” Hoversland said. Residents can push the county commission, town council and school board to lower mill levies each year.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Prop 1 needs a majority of all ballots cast to pass; skipping it counts as a no.
