• Group hoping to gain needed signatures by the end of the month
Recently stories about a property tax ballot initiative the failed to receive enough votes ran across the state and while that is technically true, it is not dead and in fact, organizers are hoping to put it over the top with the momentum from this week’s Primary Election.
Richard Walker and Brent Bien recently spoke with SVI Radio as part of the Weekday Wake-up radio program about the push titled “The People’s Initiative to Limit Property Tax in Wyoming Through a Homeowners Property Exemption” document.
“We’ve had an 87% increase as of 2023, specifically residential property taxes,” Walker said. “It’s gone from $300 million to $800 million in collections so we made a move. The legislature made some progress and we wanted to keep things going and cross the goal line but we got tackled.”
According to Walker, the group submitted more than 45,000 signatures in an effort to gain the just under 30,000 needed for the ballot to move forward but the number came up just over 1,000 short. 1,030 to be exact.
“We filed it 60 days ago and they returned the count and we are shy about 1,030 by their count,” he continued. “We lost 30 percent because of non-registered voters, according to state records and notary defects, and we are trying to fix this by August 31.
Walker emphasized that the effort to move forward is still alive and well and while they have until April to actually reach their goal, they are trying to sew things up by the end of the month.
“We have 18 months to gather these signatures so it’s not dead,” he added. It’s also called a second submission and we will re-file those and have about 800 signatures that are good and valid. We have petitions out around he state again to get people to sign who didn’t sign the first time because they are now registered to vote in this upcoming election. State statute says they have 60 days to count them but it will probably take about a week.”
Brent Bien, who ran for governor in 2022 is also part of the process.
“Right now the legislature has failed all the way across the board,” he said. “The governor vetoed [House Bill] HB 54 and called it a socialism type of idea so right now there hasn’t been anything. What people need to understand, the initiative is intended to begin in January of 2025. The great thing about this ballot initiative is it’s an exemption. You can file for it. It’s also non-discriminatory. It doesn’t matter how much money you make or how big your house is, It’s the least discriminatory bill there is so that’s where we are sitting.”
Bien says fixing property taxes is well within the financial realm of the state.
“We have $30 billion in the bank in the rainy day fund and put another $750 million in this past session,” he added. “This [initiative] will cost $140 million annually, that’s not refunds, that’s people not paying it. If you keep taxes low and people spend money how they want to spend it then the economy explodes. But this is a freedom issue. To keep people in their homes.”
Both men praised Lincoln County as the first in the state to reach their signature goals.
“Lincoln County crushed it,” Bien said. “They were the first county to get their signatures. My hats off to everybody there, it’s greatly appreciated.”
“Kudos to Lincoln County,” Walker added. “They started the ball rolling.”
To learn more about this initiative and add your signature, contact Shay Scaffide or call Richard Walker directly at 307-660-5832.
