Many of the services that make our communities nice places to live are funded by property taxes.
Our communities rely on this tax base, but the Freedom caucus is trying to cut it anyway. Members of Wyoming Legislature’s Revenue Committee are using property tax cuts to weaken public institutions. Many are even using a dishonest promise of “free money” (spoiler alert: it’s not free money) to campaign for their next election. They’re fueling their political careers at the expense of our communities.
That’s why Better Wyoming showed up recently at the Revenue Committee’s meeting in Casper last month. It was important to tell legislators - and the Wyoming public - just how bad things would be for hardworking Wyomingites if these irresponsible, lazy cuts go through.
This action even reached national attention, with our work getting featured at Realtor.com and Yahoo News. You can also read more about our day of action at Wyofile, Wyoming Tribune Eagle, and the Cowboy State Daily.
Community member Lisa Jamieson’s testimony set the stage:
"I came here today to ask: What is going on? Who cuts a revenue source without having already implemented a replacement source? This is irresponsible.
I hear of draining the rainy day fund. Draining the rainy day fund? For a fabricated emergency of the legislature’s own making?
I urge you, please be responsible.... Don’t defund and destroy our institutions."
Watch more of Lisa’s testimony here:
Then, Laurie Longtine delved into what’s at stake.
Proposed legislation endangers all those community services and amenities, as well as the things that hardworking families in Wyoming take for granted - that firemen, paramedics, policemen, or sheriffs will show up if we have an emergency. That snow will be cleared from our streets, and potholes will be filled in a timely and efficient manner. That the water that comes out of our faucets will be safe to drink. That our garbage will be collected and properly disposed of. That a hospital and medical care will be within minutes, not hours, from our home or our work.
Deanna Frey summed it up powerfully and simply in her testimony:
I pay my taxes because...it’s what good people do.
