CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Governor Mark Gordon has signed a suite of bills concerning state property taxes into law, his office announced Thursday.
Gordon signed HB0003 – “Property tax exemption for long-term homeowners,” HB0045 – “Property tax exemption-residential structures and land” and SF0089 – “Veterans ad valorem exemption-amount.”
“I am happy to sign this package of legislation, which provides targeted relief to taxpayers most impacted by increasing valuations, while ensuring our counties and schools are able to continue to provide the services our residents rely on,” Gordon said in his statement. “There was an identified need, and this legislature responded to that.”
With the approval of House Bill 3, primary residence homeowners (or their spouses) who are age 65 or over and have paid Wyoming property taxes for 25 years or more are eligible for an exemption of 50% of a property’s value. It will go into effect Jan. 1, 2025, and last until July of 2027.
House Bill 45 imposes a 4% cap on year-to-year property tax increases for residential buildings and parcels, effective immediately.
Senate File 89 will increase an existing veterans tax exemption from $3,000 to $6,000 of assessed value, and allocates $8.2 million to the state treasurer to provide reimbursements to county treasurers.
Gordon also signed HB0004 – Property tax refund program, but vetoed one line item in the bill, abolishing the highest income bracket for the program. He explained in his announcement that the allocated $20 million would be “insufficient” to fund the program with the highest income category included.
“I want to thank the Legislature for answering the call and funding an expansion of this program, which helped more than 9,000 Wyoming families last year,” Gordon said in a statement.
Gordon did not approve every property tax bill. He vetoed SF0054 – Homeowner tax exemption, noting in his explanation that it might harm the “financial stability of the state and counties… [representing] a socialistic type of wealth transfer.”
