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Wyoming Property Tax on Residential Property and Owner-Occupied Primary Residences Amendment (2024)
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U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State House • Supreme court • State ballot measures • Municipal • All other local • How to run for office |
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| Wyoming Property Tax on Residential Property and Owner-Occupied Primary Residences Amendment | |
|---|---|
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| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Taxes | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Wyoming Property Tax on Residential Property and Owner-Occupied Primary Residences Amendment was on the ballot in Wyoming as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.[1] It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported adding residential real property as a fourth, separate, class of property and authorizing the legislature to create a subclass of residential property for owner-occupied primary residences, which could be assessed at a different rate from other property in the residential property class. |
A "no" vote opposed adding residential real property as a fourth, separate, class of property and authorizing the legislature to create a subclass of residential property for owner-occupied primary residences, which could be assessed at a different rate from other property in the residential property class. |
Election results
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Wyoming Property Tax on Residential Property and Owner-Occupied Primary Residences Amendment |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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|
146,336 | 59.31% | ||
| No | 100,392 | 40.69% | ||
Overview
What was the law surrounding property taxes in Wyoming as of 2024?
- See also: Background
As of 2024, the Wyoming Constitution required property to be assessed at full value, uniformly, in each of three property classes:
- gross production of minerals and mine products in lieu of taxes on the land where produced;
- property used for industrial purposes; and
- all other real and personal property.
As of 2023, the property tax rate in Wyoming was 11.5% for industrial property and 9.5% for commercial, residential, and all other property. The rates are assessed on the full market value of a property.[2]
What did the amendment do?
- See also: Text of measure
The amendment added residential real property as a fourth, separate, class of property. The amendment authorized the legislature to create a subclass within this new class for owner-occupied primary residences. This subclass may be assessed at a rate other than the uniform rate for property in the class.[1]
What did supporters and opponents say about the measure?
- See also: Support and Path to the ballot
Republican State Representative Dan Dockstader, who sponsored the amendment in the state House said, "Currently there are only three classes of property for taxation: minerals, industrial and all other. Residential property is lumped under the latter class. [This amendment] would modify the Wyoming Constitution to create a fourth class of property tax – residential property. Our constitution also prohibits “sub-classes” of property. [This amendment would allow] a subclass of residential property owner occupied primary residences. Once approved by the voters the legislature could then tax owner-occupied homes at more favorable rates than is currently possible."[3]
Representative Steve Harshman (R) said, "Right now, with three classes, all of our homes are lumped in with the biggest corporations in this world. They pay the same rate as you and your mother and your children. Should your mother’s house, should my house, should our kid’s houses be at the same rate as the largest corporations in the world? I don’t know. We’re one of the few states that doesn’t separate residential."[4]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ | The adoption of this amendment would separate residential real property into its own class of property for purposes of property tax assessments. The amendment would authorize the legislature to create a subclass of owner occupied primary residences.[5] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Wyoming Constitution
The amendment amended Section 11 of Article 15 of the Wyoming Constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted and underlined text was added.[1]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
Article 15, Section 11. Uniformity of assessment required.
(a) All property, except as in this constitution otherwise provided, shall be uniformly valued at its full value as defined by the legislature, in three (3) four (4) classes as follows:
(i) Gross production of minerals and mine products in lieu of taxes on the land where produced;
(ii) Property used for industrial purposes as defined by the legislature; and
(iii) Residential real property; and
(iv) All other property, real and personal.
(b) The legislature shall prescribe the percentage of value which shall be assessed within each designated class. All taxable property shall be valued at its full value as defined by the legislature except agricultural and grazing lands which shall be valued according to the capability of the land to produce agricultural products under normal conditions. The percentage of value prescribed for industrial property shall not be more than forty percent (40%) higher nor more than four (4) percentage points more than the percentage prescribed for residential real property or more than forty percent (40%) higher nor more than four (4) percentage points more than the percentage prescribed for all other property other than minerals.
(c) Except as provided in this subsection the legislature shall not create new classes or subclasses or authorize any property to be assessed at a rate other than the rates set for authorized classes. The legislature may create a subclass of residential real property for owner occupied primary residences.
(d) All taxation shall be equal and uniform within each class and subclass of property. The legislature shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, real and personal. [5]
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The attorney general wrote the ballot language for this measure.
The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 15, and the FRE is 21. The word count for the ballot title is 37.
Support
Supporters
Officials
- State Sen. Dan Dockstader (R)
- State Rep. Lane Allred (R)
- State Rep. Andrew Byron (R)
Arguments
Opposition
Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.
Campaign finance
If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Background
Property tax in Wyoming
As of 2023, the Wyoming Constitution required property to be assessed at full value, uniformly, in each of three property classes:
- gross production of minerals and mine products in lieu of taxes on the land where produced;
- property used for industrial purposes; and
- all other real and personal property.
As of 2023, the property tax rate in Wyoming was 11.5% for industrial property and 9.5% for commercial, residential, and all other property. The rates are assessed on the full market value of a property.[6]
Property tax ballot measures, 2024
Ten ballot measures concerning property taxes were certified to appear on the 2024 ballot in eight states.
Wyoming constitutional amendments, 2000-2022
- Between 2000 and 2022, 22 constitutional amendments appeared on the ballot in Wyoming.
- From 2000 and 2022, an average of two amendments appeared on the ballot in even-numbered years.
- Between 2000 and 2022, 13 of 22 amendments (59%) were approved, and 9 of 22 amendments (41%) were defeated.
| Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 2000-2022 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number | Approved | Percent approved | Defeated | Percent defeated | Even-year average | Even-year median | Even-year minimum | Even-year maximum | |
| 22 | 13 | 59% | 9 | 41% | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Wyoming Constitution
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required in both the Wyoming State Senate and the Wyoming House of Representatives.
On January 26, 2023, the state Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 21-10. Of Senate Republicans, 20 voted in favor and nine voted against. Of Senate Democrats, one voted in favor and one voted against. The state House approved an amended version of the bill in a vote of 53-9 on February 28, 2023, and the Senate concurred with the House's amendments on March 2, 2023, in a vote of 22-8 with one member excused.[1]
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How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in Wyoming
See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Wyoming.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wyoming State Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 3," accessed January 26, 2023
- ↑ Wyoming Department of Revenue, "General Information," accessed March 20, 2023
- ↑ The Sheridan Press, "Column: Property tax reduction resurrection," accessed March 20, 2023
- ↑ Cowboy State Daily, "Wyoming Property Tax Reform Measure Back From Dead, Would Pave Way For Residential Relief ," accessed March 20, 2023
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Wyoming Department of Revenue, "General Information," accessed March 20, 2023
- ↑ Wyoming Secretary of State, "Election Frequently Asked Questions, General Voting information," accessed May 30, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wyoming Secretary of State, "Voting," accessed May 30, 2025
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wyoming Legislature, "Legislation 2025, HB0156 - Proof of voter residency-registration qualifications." accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Wyoming Secretary of State, "Welcome to the FAQs," accessed May 30, 2025
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 NCSL, "State Profiles: Elections," accessed May 30, 2025
- ↑ Wyoming Legislature, "Legislation 2025, HB0156 - Proof of voter residency-registration qualifications." accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ Wyoming Legislature, "HB0075 - Voter identification," accessed May 2, 2023
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