Wyoming county leaders are breathing a sigh of relief after Wyoming voters appeared to narrowly vote against Proposition 1.
The Associated Press called the vote after 11 p.m. on Tuesday.
The controversial people’s initiative would have cut the structural property tax by 50%, an increase from previous relief measures passed by the state legislature in recent years.
It became Wyoming’s first such measure to reach ballots in 30 years after former gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien led a successful campaign to get 30,000 signatures.
Teton County voters rejected the initiative by nearly 2-to-1.
Those canvassed by KHOL on election day reflected the split in the state. Some said they were willing to pay for civic services. Others worried about retirees on fixed incomes facing rising tax bills.
“Our local government spends money like drunken sailors. We need to tighten the belt,” 20-year Teton County resident Anne Stalker said Tuesday at the GOP watch party.
Firefighters, teachers and county leaders spent more than $1 million on an unsuccessful ad blitz warning voters of cuts to local services if the proposal passed.
The measure was supported by the Teton County and Wyoming GOP parties. It would have had a particular impact in Teton, where property valuations spiked after a pandemic homebuying spree.
Outgoing Teton County Assessor Melissa Shinkle described the 50% cut as a necessary reset button. Other counties said they hadn’t seen as large of a value increase and therefore didn’t need as much of a cut.
State lawmakers have tried to address the issue by passing a series of relief measures, including a 50% exemption up to $3 million for long-term homeowners 65 and older who have paid property taxes for 25 years or more. There’s also a 25% exemption on the first $1 million of market value for owner-occupied residential properties.
Wyoming’s initiative was an uncommon failure in a wave of tax relief measures across the country that aim to combat the rising home affordability crisis. From June 2020 to June 2026, states passed 72% of 186 property relief tax measures, according to the National Association of Counties.
Along with Texas, the relief measures in Wyoming are among the most prominent in the country and have been years in the making.
Outgoing governor Mark Gordon and incoming governor Eric Barlow both opposed Prop 1, with Barlow telling voters in Jackson that “it will truly harm communities.”
Some Republicans also opposed the move. Sen. Ogden Driskill, who won a campaign to keep his seat this year, said it could lead to a fiscal cliff. Rep. Liz Storer, D-Jackson, who won re-election on Tuesday, campaigned against the measure.
(Liz Storer and her husband Luther Propst are financial supporters of KHOL. Contributions do not influence KHOL’s journalism.)
In response to a question this fall from a younger voter about the need to protect longtime residents facing insurmountable spikes in home value, Storer pointed to the new relief measures.
“We expanded the refund program significantly,” she said, adding: “People don’t mind paying a reasonable amount of property tax because they understand they’re getting services.”
Sen. Mike Gireau, D-Jackson, expected Prop 1 to narrowly fail. He said the relief measures passed by the state in recent years aren’t too little too late.
“Do we need to do more [relief]? Yeah,” he said, suggesting the 4% cap on annual appreciation could be lowered another percentage point and be enshrined in the state Constitution. He also supports an idea recently floated by the state treasurer for tax relief for renters.
His colleague Sen. Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, said Prop 1 was clearly “up for grabs,” noting he’d had supporters and opponents on his radio station.
Both sides also argued their case at a Teton County Library forum in October. Nate Martin, a journalist who leads the Better Wyoming nonprofit, said there was no backup plan to replace lost revenue.
Former Republican Rep. Marti Halverson countered that increased tax revenue hasn’t improved Wyoming.
“Since 2019, residential property tax increases across the state averaged 73%,” she said. “Did we get better roads? No. Did we get better education outcomes? No.”
Teton County voters took things a step further by backing an increase in property taxes for a specific recipient.
Voters overwhelmingly passed an increase for St. John’s Health funding, by just less than 3-to-1. The hospital, which has faced budget deficits and service cuts, will now potentially have access to double its previous property tax budget.
