Rep. Gingery, others push for property tax reform

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-While the Wyoming Legislature sat down this week to hammer out a state budget, Rep. Keith Gingery chimed in  on how he and other electives from Western Wyoming are addressing issues unique to this side of the state.

Foremost on Gingery’s agenda, he said, is pushing for a series of property tax-reform bills. Property owners in Teton County have to contend each year with increasing property taxes based on assessed property values.
“A home in Rafter J has gone up 118 percent in seven years,” Gingery said. “People don’t plan for 118 percent.”

The market under such conditions does favor the homeowner once the property sells, but taxes rising commensurate to increasing property values take a heavier toll each year.
“We’ve been talking to legislators on the eastern side of the state,” Gingery said, speaking of an effort to create sympathy among lawmakers whose constituents cannot identify with the problem. “Our support is building.”

A number of property tax reform measures failed on the House floor last week, but one constitutional amendment is still up for vote which would create a new tax category for residential property. If the bill passes, Wyoming voters will have final say about it next November. A subsequent amendment to the new tax category would allow lawmakers to vote yearly on a rate of increase – currently proposed at 3.5 percent. By comparison, Teton County homeowners have to contend with property taxes that increase between 20 and 30 percent each year.

Gingery is not alone in trying to convince the rest of the state’s lawmakers that the current system of property taxes based on assessed values can present difficulty in some western counties, where scenic and recreational resources and even mineral development (in Sublette County) has led to sharply escalating property values.
Rep. Monte Olsen of Daniel, aligned with Jackson Hole’s Sen. Grant Larson, has spearheaded the legislation.

A third bill would provide some property tax relief to property owners based on income.
Town councils and county commissioners fearing revenue loss are common opponents to property tax reduction, as are agriculture and mineral development groups, who fear further taxation to offset the loss.

County commission chairman Andy Schwartz said Wyoming, a state with no income tax, also has relatively low property taxes.

“We’ve got to be careful how much we constrain ourselves,” he said, adding that “something’s got to be done.”
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Rep. Gingery, others push for property tax reform | Planet JH News Article: General Politics

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