Issues
Welcome to the issues section of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association.
In this section you will be able to access our Fiscal Facts, Reports, Session Updates, and the "Tax Round-Up" Newsletter
2008 Legislative Session
WTA has tracked the progress of every bill in every session for over 50 years. Now lobbying on behalf of our members, WTA is involved at every level of the legislative process. Members have access to weekly meetings throughout the legislative session to receive updates on pertinent issues and review bill status with other members.
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Property Taxes
Because Wyoming does not impose an income tax, local governments largely rely on property tax collections. In fact, in 2007, the State collected just over $1.37 billion in property taxes on a state-wide assessed value of $21.5 billion. Almost 68% of these revenues come from minerals production and the majority of the revenues from property taxes are directed to Wyoming's public schools.
Wyoming's property taxes are based on a yearly measure from the 4th Monday in May until the 4th Monday in May of the next year. Assessed values are set in March and the County Treasurer's Office sends bills in September. Bills may be paid 50% due by November 10th and 50% due the next May 10th.
Wyoming assess property for tax purposes as follows:
- Mineral production: 100% of fair market value;
- Industrial property - utilities, pipelines, railroads and manufacturing; 11.5% of fair market value;
- Residential real property, and commercial real and personal property: 9.5% of fair market value;
- Agricultural Lands; 9.5% of productivity value
To see what a mill generates in each county, see the following table: County-by-County Mills
How do mill levies work? Who is responsible for assessing the mills? For a complete understanding of mill levies in Wyoming, see the following illustration: Mill Levy 101
To view property tax relief programs click here: Current Property Tax Assistance Programs.
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Community College Planning Task Force
A follow up to Governor Freudenthal's 'blue ribbon panel' from 2007, the Community College Planning Task Force was created during the 2008 legislative session. The charge of the Task Force is to review and evaluate the existing community college system and to develop recommendations addressing various components of the community college system, including:
- Conduct a statewide study on the current capacity level of the college system based upon established student population projections and projected state academic and workforce needs and provide estimates on recommended future capacity needs;
- Create a system which evaluates and prioritizes community college capital construction;
- Identify options for funding of community college capital construction;
- Allocate programming to meet the needs of students in the most cost effective manner;
- Address the needs of industry in the development of a trained and skilled workforce;
- Restructure the governance of the community college system to provide for unified oversight and accountability;
- Explore a statewide community college system in respect to governance, revenue generation and representation on the commission, and;
- Create a seamless educational system between K-12 to post secondary education.
Recommendations will be presented by November 1, 2008. Please click here for a link to the new Community College Planning Task Force, and to find members of the Task Force, meeting dates, agendas and further information. Back to Top
Permanent Mineral Trust Fund (PMTF)
Created on November 5, 1974, Wyoming’s PMTF is funded with constitutional and statutory mineral severance tax revenues and occasional direct legislative appropriations. Income from the fund goes to the state General Fund. The PMTF has experienced significant growth over the last few years. In 1999 the fund held $1.5B ~ and as of December 2006, the PMTF held $3.3B – that’s a $1.8B increase in just seven years. The PMTF is on track to exceed the goal of $4B by 2010 (in fact, will exceed $4B by summer, 2009).
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Streamlined Sales Tax
What is it and what does it mean for Wyoming?
Now three years from the initial approval date of November 12, 2002, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSTA) is off and running as of October 1, 2005. One might ask, “What is the SSTA, and why should the State of Wyoming be involved?”
Plainly, the goal of SSTA is to develop measures to design, test and implement a system that radically simplifies sales and use taxes. The SSTA would also allow states to require remote vendors to collect sales and use taxes. To some, it is a clear and cohesive illustration of the need to ensure that state sales and use tax revenues are collected while reducing the collecting/reporting burden on sellers, and to make sure that the governance mechanism is fair and unbiased – to others, it’s a non-translated equation of the universe’s mass equilibrium spoken in Swahili. But it’s really quite simple…
The SSTA project was created by and comprised of participating states, including the District of Columbia. Participating states must make some sort of commitment to the SSTA process by enacting enabling legislation, legislative resolution, or other measure. The Wyoming Legislature passed a bill (HB 98) during the recent budget session that would allow the state to comply with the SSTA as a full member by January 1, 2008, and until then as an associate member. To date, full member states include: Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Associate member states are Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Nevada, and Wyoming. Full membership means that a state’s current sales and use tax law substantially complies with each provision of the SSTA. For associate members, the provisions of the SSTA must be met by January 1, 2008.
In order for SSTA to fully work, we also need action through Congress to implement a national system to allow taxation of remote sales. On December 20, 2005, both Senators Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced alternate versions of federal streamlined sales tax legislation. The difference between the two versions relates to a small business exception.
The Catch-22 is that the proposed federal legislation and the SSTA are inter-related. For example, any federal law would require the states to adopt the SSTA before granting them the right to enforce tax collection on remote sellers. Furthermore, the federal legislation would only apply to member states – as described above, that involves only states that are categorized as ‘full members’.
Who supports SSTA? Most state and local governments, and Department of Revenue officials support SSTA, in addition to a number of large shopping center owners, Internet companies, realtors and large retailers. Those who are against it believe that SSTA will diminish the viability of Internet sales and economic competition among the states, and may be burdensome. Is there a middle ground? Sure – a large number of business owners stand in between. Some would like to see the playing field leveled and the sales and use tax system simplified. Others would still like to see the measure develop before it hits prime time. Ultimately, is SSTA good for Wyoming? Yes. The Wyoming Taxpayers Association supported the legislature’s move to delay the implementation date to January 1, 2008, while businesses, the Department of Revenue and the legislators can work out some of the wrinkles.
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Wyoming's Tax Structure
Wyoming has some of the lowest taxes in the nation – and certainly, one of the lowest personal tax burdens per capita. With no corporate or personal income tax, state and local governments rely heavily on mineral revenues to keep services a float.
In fact, the Department of Economic Analysis estimates that the average family of four in Wyoming, with family income of $50,000 and a house valued at $150,000, only pays $3,330 in taxes for what they receive in services of $32,960.
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Wyoming State Government Spending
This section is under construction.
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2006 Candidate Questionnaire
WTA’s first ever Candidate Questionnaire – was sent to all candidates in legislative and statewide races in 2006. The results were published side-by-side so WTA members would have a better understanding of where the candidates stand on important fiscal and tax issues. A new Candidate Questionnaire is underway for the 2008 elections.
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Tax Reform 2000
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