The Wyoming Legislature voted last year to put a constitutional amendment on our ballot this November. Amendment A, should it pass, will create a fourth class of property tax. Currently, commercial property (think Walmart and gambling casinos) and residential property (think your grandmother’s house in Sheridan) reside in the same category and are taxed at 9.5% of assessed value. That seems a bit unfair given Walmart is in it for the profits and, well, grandma just wants a home to live in.
I’ve seen a lot of propaganda against the move to take commercial property out of the residential property class, and it seems to center around the nebulous argument that now or in the future the Legislature could raise property taxes. Let’s examine these arguments and what might be motivating them.
Opinion
First, when was the last time the Legislature raised property taxes? I can’t remember. It hasn’t happened in the 20 plus years I’ve been following politics in Wyoming. But sure, lawmakers could raise taxes. If that’s a reasonable rationale against Amendment A, it’s a reasonable rationale for not doing anything around tax policy. Anything. And remember, lawmakers put this measure on the ballot to curb high property taxes, not to raise them.
Oddly, now some of the amendment’s supporters are having a change of heart. Rep. Chip Neiman, who’s in line to become the first speaker of the House aligned with the Freedom Caucus, said publicly that even though he voted to put Amendment A on the ballot, he as a voter himself will not vote for it. Why? Legislators could raise the taxes, he says.
Legislators? It’s like some kind of cognitive dissonance.
Why is Neiman — who will likely be able to stop any bill from coming to the floor for a vote — acting like he’ll be powerless in the face of unnamed legislators bringing a property tax increase?
Is the Freedom Caucus in control or not?
If I had to guess, I would say the sudden shirking of power has something to do with a little survey from the Young Americans for Liberty folks who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in Wyoming’s August primary election. Remember them? A survey they sent Wyoming candidates included subtle (or not) threats about what would happen if answers and future actions differed. They’ve also gone after other lawmakers in states like Ohio for not upholding every single answer on the survey.
Yeah, them.
The group’s work ahead of the election helped give Neiman his Freedom Caucus majority in the House — but this out-of-state group didn’t do it for free, did they?
Majority Floor Leader Chip Neiman (R-Hullett) at the 2024 Wyoming Legislature. (Ashton J. Hacke/WyoFile)
The number one question on their candidate survey was, “How would you decrease the overall tax burden in your state?”
The fact that someone, someday could increase commercial property tax in Wyoming is likely the reason why the call has been made to the far corners of our state to kill this amendment. Because it goes against the radically libertarian bent of that survey to not just oppose new taxes, but to work to eliminate all taxes.
Don’t believe me? Let’s look at another one of the questions on the group’s survey. But before we do, I should make it clear that while we can see the questions, we have no idea what answers were given by politicians who just won in Wyoming’s primary. Young Americans for Liberty’s leaders in Texas or Washington, D.C., know, of course, but the people in Wyoming directly affected by the answers have no idea. Zero transparency there, right?
So with that in mind, here’s the question: “Below is a list of various tax policies. Check the left box if you support raising or creating this tax, check the box in the middle if you support keeping it at the current rate, or check the right box if you oppose this tax and will fight to lower and/or eliminate it.”
One of the taxes listed after this question is indeed personal property tax. It would be appropriate for Wyoming voters to know how those folks who won in the August primary filled out this survey, because their answers determined whether their campaigns received financial backing from the group through Make Liberty Win.Keeping this hidden from voters is a serious breach of trust and transparency.
Neiman, in a recent interview with Cowboy State Daily, said he had second thoughts about the legislative vote to put Amendment A on the ballot this November, reasoning it would result in lawmakers raising non-residential property taxes. “Although I voted for it, I’ve got some pretty serious buyer’s remorse,” he said. “It isn’t going to make a difference if we don’t control spending. We might be able to reduce residential (rates), which is awesome, but it won’t matter.”
A for-sale sign sits in front of a historic Lander home in February 2024. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)
It won’t matter? To whom won’t it matter? The elderly in communities where the rate increases are making it difficult for them to remain in their homes because they can’t afford to pay the yearly tax? I think that matters an awful lot to them.
Neiman and his Freedom Caucus ilk are playing fast and loose with an issue — property tax reform — that they have previously said they cared a great deal about. And now suddenly they care a lot more about overall budget matters like controlling spending, which is important, but shouldn’t come at the expense of helping the little people of Wyoming stay in their homes.
If property tax relief doesn’t matter anymore, then those who cared so much about it, and who voted for Freedom Caucus members because they thought they would get solutions, have been sold a rotten little bill of goods.
Or perhaps Neiman is stuck trying to appease or satisfy masters in Texas and beyond and has found his 2023 vote to be a difficult one to explain.
Either way, anyone who cares about property tax relief should do their own homework and vote accordingly. But keep in mind a lot of minions out there are spouting Freedom Caucus talking points to try and kill Amendment A. And it isn’t because they care about your grandmother in Sheridan.
Finally, anyone who cares about transparency from our elected officials should demand the Freedom Caucus release each and every candidate survey by January, when the new Legislature is sworn into office. If they don’t, we know they have even more to hide.
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