Rep. Bob "Marco Coal-o" Nicholas charts a trade route to exotic lands.
Providing relief to those who actually need it will be among lawmakers' biggest challenges.

Session preview: Somehow, some way, Wyo. property tax relief is coming

Although Wyoming has among the nation’s lowest property tax rates, sharp increases in home values have driven up tax bills to the point where relief has become politically unavoidable. Will the Legislature manage to enact it without gutting funding for public services or giving the state’s ultra-wealthy residents an undue handout?
More working families can qualify for relief, and long-term reform is on the way to help with rising property tax bills.

Session recap: Relief and reform for rising Wyo. property taxes

Rising home values have increased Wyoming property tax bills. The Legislature responded with targeted relief that will benefit nearly 10,000 households while untangling complicated issues with the state’s tax structure to allow for further reforms. They managed this while avoiding the slash-and-burn approach favored by the Freedom Caucus that would have gutted funding for local towns and counties.
The luxury real estate market generates $3 billion in annual sales, yet generates no state tax revenue.

Want to slow Wyo’s boom-and-bust cycle? Tax Jackson.

Diversifying Wyoming’s economy will require diversifying its tax base. While raising taxes on average residents is a political non-starter, a new report shows Wyoming can significantly broaden its tax base by focusing on luxury real estate and the ultra-rich.
Nothing to see here, folks. Just some foreign currency drying off after a nice Wyoming bath.

Wyoming’s laws invite dirty money with no benefit to state residents

Russian oligarchs and other bad actors take advantage of Wyoming’s lax laws governing trusts and LLCs to hide their fortunes here. What do we get for acting as a global dirty money laundromat? Not much.
The wind industry is an increasingly important source of county tax revenue in Wyoming.

Wyoming Legislature continues its quest to punish renewable energy

Want to hurt businesses? Create an environment of uncertainty. That’s the plan for Wyoming lawmakers intent on kneecapping our wind and solar industries.
“To drastically cut our school budgets will cripple our children's ability to build the skills they need for our state to compete in the future economy. We will become a backwater, poor state that offers no hope for its people.”

Screw the schools, screw the youth: Wyoming lawmakers refuse tax proposals to fund education (and everything else)

Wyoming’s population is shrinking and aging, and the Good Ol’ Boys in the Legislature staunchly oppose new taxes. But younger generations who would like to build their lives here are starting to speak up against budget cuts that would cripple the state’s education system and economy.
"I'm not really here to solve problems. I just like wearing a suit!"

Wyoming faces the biggest financial crisis in its modern history. Lawmakers respond by doing nothing.

The Legislature’s Revenue Committee has one job: to develop proposals that allow Wyoming to adequately fund its public services and infrastructure. Now that fossil fuel mining taxes are going away, the committee has failed at its single job again and again and again.
Wyoming towns and counties rely on state funds to help pay for local services. But state funds are drying up.

Legislature passes a bill making it easier for Wyoming communities to tax themselves

The increased ability for towns and counties to raise revenues is a nod toward diversifying Wyoming's tax structure. But because the new revenues will come from sales tax, they will come at the highest cost to the state's poorest residents.
For the fourth straight year, the Senate will try to defund Wyoming education while the House will attempt to shield schools from harmful cuts.

Four ways to cut school funding: House and Senate at odds as education budget negotiations begin

The Senate is proposing nearly $40 million less than the House for the state education budget, looking to cut funding for cost-of-living raises, transportation, discretionary funds, and compensation for National Board Certified teachers.
The $19 million a year raised by the tax won't come close to fixing Wyoming's budget problems. But it's a start.

“An honest first step”: Wyoming Senate passes statewide lodging tax

The Legislature’s approval of an actual tax increase suggests that lawmakers understand cuts alone can’t fix Wyoming budget crisis.
While the Legislature cuts funding for public institutions, the House advances a plan to decrease revenue.

Wyoming House advances oil tax break that would cost the state millions

A proposed severance tax break for Wyoming oil and gas companies is meant to prop up the industries. But markets—not tax rates—have historically determined production levels.
Rep. Bob "Marco Coal-o" Nicholas charts a trade route to exotic lands.

Lawmakers seek a new route to "the Orient" for Wyoming's "green coal"

A bill would give a tax break to coal companies who ship their coal from Wyoming to Asia through ports in Canada and Mexico.