A little distraction. Thoughts on Prop 1

[ZapPoke]

Yes or no? I moved home to Wyoming in 2021. My property taxes in Texas were outrageous, close to $10,00/year on a house assessed at $360,000. I was looking forward to the lower taxes in Wyoming but they really shot up 2021 to 2024 with a nice reduction when they implemented the 25% cut. I have read that the reduced taxes from Prop 1 will only really reduce taxes collected by 1.8% because it only applies to owner occupied homes. All the other stuff won’t get reduced.

 

[laxwyo]

Yes or no? I moved home to Wyoming in 2021. My property taxes in Texas were outrageous, close to $10,00/year on a house assessed at $360,000. I was looking forward to the lower taxes in Wyoming but they really shot up 2021 to 2024 with a nice reduction when they implemented the 25% cut. I have read that the reduced taxes from Prop 1 will only really reduce taxes collected by 1.8% because it only applies to owner occupied homes. All the other stuff won’t get reduced.

The amount of ads I’m seeing against it has me thinking I should vote for it .

 

[Bryoming]

Wyoming still has the 10th lowest property tax burden in the country, even without Prop 1. All but 2 states that have lower property taxes have an income tax. The other 2 are Nevada, where gambling is by far the biggest revenue generator, and Tennessee, which has the 2nd highest sales and gas taxes in the country.

All Prop 1 is going to do is make it harder for services to operate. Things like schools, police, fire departments, road work, weed & pest, etc...

And before you come at me with something along the lines of, "But the state has a huge rainy day fund!", that's the state. Property taxes are collected by the counties. Can anyone tell me what other sources of income the counties have?

 

[McPeachy]

Big Fat NO for me on this one.

Wasn't it the Freedom Caucus Douchebags that promoted this and got it on the ballot? Cutting property taxes (income) is so stupid right now. Wyoming would have to find new funding options (highly unlikely) to fix the current infrastructure that is in poor shape and getting continually worse!

Now - don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of improper and unrealistic government spending (hey, it's in my budget, so I HAVE to spend it). That will likely always need fixing in my book. I have always felt government funding and spending should be ran like a business, but I digress.

 

[TheRealUW]

Yes or no? I moved home to Wyoming in 2021. My property taxes in Texas were outrageous, close to $10,00/year on a house assessed at $360,000. I was looking forward to the lower taxes in Wyoming but they really shot up 2021 to 2024 with a nice reduction when they implemented the 25% cut. I have read that the reduced taxes from Prop 1 will only really reduce taxes collected by 1.8% because it only applies to owner occupied homes. All the other stuff won’t get reduced.

Where did you live in Texas? Did you have a homestead exemption on your home?

I pay about $10k/year in property taxes on my home in the Austin area but it is valued at around $850k. Tax rate is usually around 1.65%, but decreased pretty sharply when home values shot up a few years ago during the whole COVID thing.

Homestead exemption makes a massive difference. I own a second home in the Austin area that I rent out - it is only valued at about $600k, but because I do not have a homestead exemption on it, I pay way more in property taxes on that home than I do on the home that I live in.

 

[ZapPoke]

Where did you live in Texas? Did you have a homestead exemption on your home?

I pay about $10k/year in property taxes on my home in the Austin area but it is valued at around $850k. Tax rate is usually around 1.65%, but decreased pretty sharply when home values shot up a few years ago during the whole COVID thing.

Homestead exemption makes a massive difference. I own a second home in the Austin area that I rent out - it is only valued at about $600k, but because I do not have a homestead exemption on it, I pay way more in property taxes on that home than I do on the home that I live in.

I did have the homestead exemption. I was in Cypress northwest of Houston. School tax alone was around $4,000. Harris County added a couple thousand more and then there was the MUD tax since we lived in an unincorporated area. For those not familiar with a MUD it is a metropolitan utility district. Provided water, sewer, trash collection, and law enforcement. They are called Constables and are legitimate law enforcement that contracts their services to MUDs.

I sold the house for 425,000 in 2021. According to homes.com it is now worth $700,000 and the taxes are up to $14,000. Glad I moved back home when I did.

 

[laxwyo]

I think home values have outpaced inflation and by that reason alone should necessitate a property tax haircut. Is 50% the right amount? probably a bit steep. Can't remember when we refinanced but it was during the crazy low interest rates and we knocked $300/mo off our payment and I think we took a year or two off the loan. It was 5 years later and our payment was back to our original loan. Didn't they have a 25% reduction these last 2 years where you had to attest to living in the home etc? That seemed to be about the right amount

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Big NO for me.

This would be a vote to necessitate an income tax in the state of Wyoming and provide those Jackson billionaires massive property tax relief on their properties.

I love our low tax environment and that’s a big reason I live here. Add an income tax, might as well move somewhere else.

 

[ZapPoke]

The amount of ads I’m seeing against it has me thinking I should vote for it .

Well, thanks to Cowboy State Daily we know who’s paying for those ads. The National Education Association chipped in $1.8 million of the $2.2 million that PAC has. Why do they care? State law says if the school district can’t raise sufficient funds through the property tax the state has to make up the difference. Wyoming is already ranked 10th in the country on spending per student. The 9 ahead of us are mostly in the northeast. There is something here that we need answered.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

. Wyoming is already ranked 10th in the country on spending per student. The 9 ahead of us are mostly in the northeast. There is something here that we need answered.

This is actually a really easy answer and has been consistent in Wyoming for many decades . Wyoming hosts an abundance of rural schools that have low staff to student ratios due to the nature of small local populations.

Rural schools have relatively high fixed expenses per student. Whether you have 10 or 300 students, you need a building, staff, maintenance, athletic facilities, heating, etc. Naturally this spikes the ‘per student’ cost.

The alternative is to eliminate rural schools (a trend we are starting). I’m personally opposed to eliminating rural schools and destroying the small towns that make Wyoming great in my opinion. But that’s just me and perhaps folks would prefer we just do away with the small town.

Big Piney is traveling to Pine Bluffs for 9 man football playoffs. That’s a long travel and significant cost for an early round football game (there aren’t any 9 man teams close to Big Piney and thus long travel naturally needed to support the activity). I suppose to cut costs we could tell those small schools to eliminate football. Wouldn’t be my choice but I’m sure the freedom caucus would support that approach.

 

[ZapPoke]

This is actually a really easy answer and has been consistent in Wyoming for many decades . Wyoming hosts an abundance of rural schools that have low staff to student ratios due to the nature of small local populations.

Rural schools have relatively high fixed expenses per student. Whether you have 10 or 300 students, you need a building, staff, maintenance, athletic facilities, heating, etc. Naturally this spikes the ‘per student’ cost.

The alternative is to eliminate rural schools (a trend we are starting). I’m personally opposed to eliminating rural schools and destroying the small towns that make Wyoming great in my opinion. But that’s just me and perhaps folks would prefer we just do away with the small town.

Big Piney is traveling to Pine Bluffs for 9 man football playoffs. That’s a long travel and significant cost for an early round football game (there aren’t any 9 man teams close to Big Piney and thus long travel naturally needed to support the activity). I suppose to cut costs we could tell those small schools to eliminate football. Wouldn’t be my choice but I’m sure the freedom caucus would support that approach.

Your really easy answer is too simplistic. Let’s compare Wyoming to other low population states with small towns:

1. Wyoming — $20,521
2. North Dakota — $17,102
3. Nebraska — $16,147
4. Montana — $13,656
5. Iowa — $14,369
6. South Dakota — $12,828
7. Idaho — $11,056

 

[laxwyo]

It's simple, once budgets are raised, the same emotional blackmail is used to keep the budgets high. The federal budget does the same thing. Trump's dumb ass bragged having some of the biggest spending bills ever, especially during Covid. Then, you try to cut the budget to what it was just 18 months prior and everyone tells you that you won't be able to build roads anymore, rinse/repeat. Housing prices outpaced inflation, which means the budgets grew faster too. Like I said, the 25% we had the last few years seems about the right amount. I'm not sure if that stay's if I vote no.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Your really easy answer is too simplistic. Let’s compare Wyoming to other low population states with small towns:

1. Wyoming — $20,521
2. North Dakota — $17,102
3. Nebraska — $16,147
4. Montana — $13,656
5. Iowa — $14,369
6. South Dakota — $12,828
7. Idaho — $11,056

If you want to compare those states, Wyoming has the highest percentage of "rural students" attending schools in "remote districts":

Montana is interesting looking at its percentage and cost. The rest make sense.

*Why Rural Matters 2025 report

State	% of rural students attending remote rural districts	Rank among these states
Wyoming	73.8%	1
Montana	70.9%	2
South Dakota	66.5%	3
Idaho	59.8%	4
Nebraska	55.5%	5
North Dakota	46.3%	6

 

[Wyokie]

Just for giggles, what's the % of rural students attending rural schools here in Oklahoma?