OPINION
The Boston Tea Party wasn’t about the price of tea. It was about a government that had grown too comfortable taking from people who had little say in the matter. The tea was where the colonists drew the line. Property taxes have become that “Tea” line for many Wyoming homeowners.
Someone can work for decades, pay off a mortgage, and believe he finally owns his home. Then the tax bill arrives, and somehow his property taxes have become more than the mortgage once was. This can be for a few different reasons. For example, a neighbor sells his house for more than expected. The assessed value of the first homeowner goes up, and he now owes more. Another example is the assessor assessing your house for more than you paid for it, claiming it is inflation. All of this is taxation on unrealized gains.
For people living on Social Security, that can mean cutting back somewhere else to stay in a house they already paid for. Wyoming should not tax people out of their homes over a gain they have never collected. Keeping people in their homes will in fact save the state money because people can age in their homes, not an assisted living facility.
BCR Initiatives, a group of Wyoming citizens, took this issue to the voters. More than 30,000 verified signatures put Proposition 1 on the November ballot, making it Wyoming’s first statewide citizen initiative in 30 years. Article 3 section 52 of the Wyoming Constitution secures the right for the people to bring forth initiatives and referendums to make changes in our state. It is a way for the people to bring forth action; they do not have to wait for a bill to be passed by their legislature.
The proposal would exempt half the assessed value of a qualifying homeowner’s primary dwelling from property tax. It is aimed at people who live in their homes. It comes with residency requirements and an application through the county assessor. It will not erase every property tax charge, but it will give homeowners substantial relief. This is not for rental properties; it is not for business or industrial property; it is only for primary residences.
Predictably, the fear warnings have started. Pass the initiative, and essential services will be cut! Schools and children are brought up almost immediately. Nobody wants to short-change a classroom or leave a community without the services it needs. But it is a over-played move to point to children before anyone has shown what other expenditures can be trimmed.
Estimates predict that Proposition 1, on the ballot in November, will result in a $92.6 million drop in state revenue in fiscal year 2028. That seems like a tremendous amount of money but really, that is only about 1.8% of one year’s state budget. This small percentage carries over to the county and local level as well. Though this will definitely call for budget work to be adapted, it does not justify telling homeowners that relief is impossible. (sos.wyo.gov)
Homeowners have been adjusting their budgets for years. They’ve paid more for groceries, utilities, insurance, and taxes. The government can go through its books with the same care it expects from the people paying those bills. Small cuts in other areas add up. Officials should have to show their work before asking families to give up relief.
A home is where people raise their children, retire and hope to stay. Its value on paper should not become the reason they can no longer afford it.
The colonists dumped tea because they were done accepting whatever the government demanded. Wyoming voters can draw their own line this November. Vote for Proposition 1.