JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Friday, October 19, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Citing stymied efforts in the past, Gov. Dave Freudenthal Thursday proposed slashing property tax bills for those 65 and older by as much as 50 percent, with conditions.
Doing so would require a change in the state constituion, which requires voter approval, should the proposal be approved by the Legislature.
"For several decades Wyoming governors and legislators have struggled to provide property tax relief - particularly for Wyoming's older citizens wishing to remain in their family home, in spite of the increasing taxable value of their home," Freudenthal said in a letter to the legislature's Management Council, released Thursday by his office.
"Many good faith efforts have simply failed, in large part due to the restrictions in the Wyoming Constitution," he added. "I believe it is time to ask the voters if they want to amend the Constitution to allow future legislators to authorize homeowner tax relief," he added.
The proposal would exempt one half of the fair market value of an individual or couple's principal residence, with an upper limit of $100,000 of fair market value. Eligible homeowners would be at least 65 and have lived in their homes for at least ten years.
A senior living in a home with a fair market value of $200,000, for example, would pay property taxes based on only $100,000 of that value. Based on an average statewide mill levy on residential property of 67.135 mills, the seniors would save about $638 per year.
Annual costs would be an estimated $15 to $18 million per year, according to the governor's release.
Similar constitutional amendments for property tax relief have failed to get through the Legislature and often died in the House Revenue Committee.
A major, common objection to previous broad based property tax proposals was that they help those with high-priced houses, and the mineral industry, which pays about 60 percent of the property tax in the state.
The governor said his proposal is narrowly drafted to target seniors.
"I'm glad to hear that the governor is going to do that," said Sen. Grant Larson, R-Jackson, who has toiled on homeowners tax relief for years.
"Many of us have tried it many times. Maybe with his support we can get it done," he said.
"I think it's very important," Larson added.
The Constitution requires that all property shall be uniformly valued at its full value in three classes - minerals; industrial property and all other property, real and personal.
This provision has prevented singling out certain homeowners for property tax relief.
Rep. Tom Walsh, a Republican who represents House District 56 in downtown Casper, said that during his door to door campaigns, he heard repeatedly about the need for property tax relief for seniors.
The seniors are seeing their property value escalate because the value of other houses in their neighborhoods increase, he said.
"They're all on fixed incomes and it's killing them" Walsh said.
Property tax relief proposals keep getting turned down in the Legislature because of the need for a constitutional amendment, he said.
"I'm a Republican but what made me so proud of our Democratic governor is he came out and said 'let's do something about it,'" Walsh said.
Senate President John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, vice chairman of the legislative management council, a group comprised of legislative leaders, said Thursday he was surprised by the proposal. He said he talked to Freudenthal Thursday morning and the governor never mentioned it.
"We'll take a gander at it," Schiffer said of the council, which meets today in Cheyenne.
Schiffer noted there are property tax relief plan in effect for veterans, the elderly and disabled.
The governor's proposal is patterned after a Colorado program.
The proposal will require a two-thirds majority vote to be introduced in the short budget session that opens Feb.11. It will require a two-thirds majority vote in the House or Senate to pass and be placed on the 2008 general election ballot.
Capital reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net