ROCK SPRINGS — Gov. Mark Gordon said Wednesday that anticipated budget shortfalls caused by a 25% property tax cut are one of several critical issues county and local officials must address during the upcoming budget session.
His remarks came while addressing the 2025 Wyoming Association of County Officers meeting in Rock Springs, which included county officials from across the state.
The governor admitted to flying into town through thick fog that morning, which he compared to the upcoming budget issues facing Wyoming’s elected officials.
While Gordon signed Senate File 69 in March, which established a permanent 25% property tax exemption for the first $1 million of a single-family home’s value, he acknowledged that the upcoming budget session will make it difficult for local and county leaders to make up the difference.
Seventy percent of property taxes go to public schools, with the remainder going to local governments, making them a significant source of revenue for local government services.
Wyoming, Gordon stated, must soon take “a very stern look at our finances.”
The governor added that the upcoming session will see a large number of new legislators. While these individuals may bring a new perspective to the budget discussion, he also stated that their unfamiliarity with the state budget may make things difficult.
Despite this, Gordon compared the commissioners to horses that can navigate through fog even when their riders can’t.
‘I Just Worry’
When Gordon signed SF 69, he indicated that he had done so to provide relief to tax-weary Wyomingites. He also signaled that local governments would be charged with making up the difference.
“I have always supported tax accountability, and this bill provides tax relief without transferring the burden to our core energy industry,” Gordon stated at the time. “This act, along with the bills I signed last year, addresses the need for property tax relief.
“Now the practical impacts of this legislation will need to be navigated by our cities, counties, special districts and citizens.”
In an interview with Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday, Gordon emphasized that these cuts provide much-needed assistance to homeowners.
“The theory here is we want to give property tax relief, and taxes are something nobody wants to pay unless it’s absolutely essential,” said the congressman. “Your legislature then can make decisions about what gets paid for and what doesn’t, which is the legislature’s prerogative, not necessarily your county commissions.”
He admitted, however, that this is a difficult task for state and local officials to complete, and he is concerned about the potential consequences for future growth.
“I just worry that that kind of removes that ability to say ‘we need a new addition on our hospital’ and having the voters come together and say ‘I agree,'” according to him.
Gordon also acknowledged the Freedom Caucus, which is widely regarded as the most conservative bloc of legislators, as well as other supporters who are calling for additional tax cuts of up to 50%. This, he stated, is an important conversation to have as long as it does not disrupt critical services.
“I think the Freedom Caucus, they have an agenda, and it’s good to have the conversation,” Gordon told reporters. “It is always important to look at how we can make government leaner, but it’s also important to make sure that we have government that does the essential things that it is supposed to do.”
Many critical services will be at odds with one another this session to secure adequate funding.
Rep. John Bear, chairman of the Joint Appropriations Committee, told Cowboy State Daily earlier this month that food stamps are one of several programs that rely on his committee’s funding.
Another major concern, he stated, is the state Department of Health, which may face cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.
“In a multibillion-dollar biennial budget, $3 million is not that much, but $3 million here and $3 million there adds up, and we have a lot of programs that we’re looking at and all of them are important,” according to him. “The question is which ones are more important than others?”
Commissioner Concerns
Wyoming County Commissioners Association’s Executive Director Jerimiah Rieman told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday property tax cuts have led local governments to become more reliant on state revenue.
This reliance, he claimed, jeopardizes critical local services.
“You can look across a number of the counties and the decisions they had to make this year whether that’s Hot Springs County, which had to reduce its emergency management budget and ultimately had some pretty significant fires that came through,” he told me.
The tax cuts also threaten other services, such as healthcare and courtroom security, according to Rieman.
In addition to these critical functions, Rieman claims that many other valuable government functions are being reduced. Big Horn County, he said, closed two libraries due to funding shortages, while Hot Springs County reduced its 4H program.
These consequences, he claimed, are “unfortunate victims of declining revenue.” Rieman also urged the Freedom Caucus to recognize the negative consequences of its push for a larger cut in property taxes.
“I think we all have to be honest with ourselves what we want as services,” said the CEO. “No commissioner has ever approached me and said, ‘The citizens said we want fewer services. “I think the ambulance arrives too quickly, and the road is too smooth.”
Hot Springs County Commission Chairman Tom Ryan told Cowboy State Daily that the county recently cut $1.2 million, or roughly 10% of its total budget. He estimated that approximately $400,000 of those funds came from property taxes.
“In a small county, it’s a big [way] to fund our government, and there wasn’t a lot of extra that we could cut,” Ryan said of property tax revenue. “We completely eliminated the museum’s budget, we cut our fair budget in half.”
Further cuts, Ryan said, could start to affect county employees, who could lose their jobs. He urged the Freedom Caucus to examine county budgets to identify the alleged bloat.
“There’s 30 kids campaigning not to cut 4H,” he told me. “I don’t see the bloated budget, at least in Hot Springs County.”
Freedom Caucus Rebuttal
Wyoming Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, responded to the concerns in a statement to Cowboy State Daily. She argued the 50% cut is much needed given the high tax rates Wyomingites are often stuck with.
“There’s a reason the 50% property tax cut passed with veto-proof majorities in both chambers,” she told me in an email. “After years of double-, and sometimes triple-digit increases in property tax bills, the people of Wyoming have had enough.”
Government leaders, she added, will be forced to root out tax fraud and abuse as a result of her caucus’ cut, which is a significant victory for taxpayers.
“The people have had to tighten their belts to write their property tax checks; it’s time government — at all levels — learn to operate on a tighter budget,” the spokeswoman said. “Most Wyoming politicians claim to be fiscally conservative. “It’s time they walk the walk.”
