Wyoming lawmakers are considering rewriting the state Constitution to do away with all taxation on land and buildings used for housing, as similarly sweeping efforts grow more common in other states.
But residential property tax revenue largely stays in the communities it’s raised in, helping maintain local government services like cemeteries, libraries , volunteer firefighters , law enforcement and road maintenance, not to mention supporting the budgets of cities , towns , counties and special districts . Those tax dollars do not go to the state.
To help make up for the loss of revenue to local governments, state lawmakers will consider a bill in February that would raise the state’s sales tax, which currently sits at 4%. The bill would raise that number to 6%.
The idea of taking a red pen to residential property taxes troubles people like Adelaide Myers, an attorney and board member for the Carbon County Library System in southern Wyoming.
“This would be really bad for our counties, our municipalities, our schools, all of our districts, to just take away property taxes,” said Myers.
Carbon County is vast, beautiful and sparsely populated, with towns tucked away behind mountain ranges and often buried in snow. People there depend on their libraries, not just for books, but for places to get online and do things like write resumes, Myers said.
Myers, who started a letter writing campaign highlighting the need for property taxes, has lost more than half her budget, as lawmakers have already been reducing that for
Continue Reading on NPR
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.