Wyoming
Freedom Caucus Questions If State Agency Is Pushing Property Tax Bill
When state Rep. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, started devising his property tax relief bill last year, he and Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, reached out to Wyoming Department of Revenue Director Brenda Henson to see if it would be feasible to enact his legislation immediately for the 2024 tax year.
“We tried to work with the people that actually have the power to implement the law we have to pass,” Crago said.
This led Henson to direct her staff Jan. 3 to host a presentation to the 23 Wyoming county assessors on how this bill, if it passes, would be implemented.
That’s drawn some questions from leading members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, who sent a letter to Henson demanding an explanation for spending state resources on something that hasn’t happened yet, or could never happen.
“Regardless of the merits of the bill, the process undertaken by your department creates the appearance of corruption and lacks the transparency needed to appropriately enact legislation,” the letter reads.
In the letter sent to Henson on Jan. 24, Reps. John Bear, R-Gillette, and Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, accuse Henson of lobbying Wyoming’s county assessors to support the bill and prematurely establishing rules and regulations for it.
“The appearance is that the department began to promulgate rules prior to a bill being introduced, debated or voted on,” Bear told Cowboy State Daily.
Despite the sharp tone of the letter, Bear said it was only sent to give Henson a chance to clear up any misconceptions about the situation.
In their letter, the legislators remind Henson what the stated purpose of her property tax division is and that “there is clearly a difference between training and guiding local governmental agencies and lobbying county elected officials.”
Henson’s Response
In a Jan. 31 response, Henson thanks the legislators for stating the role of her department, but denies most of the accusations.
She said her staff talked to the county assessors about the bill to show that the current state database used by the assessors would be capable of immediately executing Crago’s House Bill 45 if it were to pass into law.
“These discussions help to ensure there are no unintended consequences,” Henson wrote.
Bear and Rodriguez-Williams also accuse the department staff of threatening assessors to support House Bill 45 or they will be blamed for not providing tax relief. Henson denied that allegation and said the warning the Freedom Caucus is concerned about was actually made by an individual county assessor, not her office.
Henson also said her department has not established any new rules ahead of the legislative session, but did ask assessors where terminology in the rules may need some clarifying to implement the proposed legislation.
To make HB 45 happen, Henson said her department will need to adopt emergency rules, adding that “communication and transparency during the early stages benefits all.”
For Bear, this is still a step too far, as he believes the presentation should have been hosted by Crago and Harshman. Any action by Department of Revenue staff, he said, should wait until the bill passes into law.
“Presenting how the bill could be implemented by the assessors should be considered training and should have fallen into the ‘emergency rulemaking’ time frame once a bill has passed,” he said. “The potential to waste valuable government resources on a bill that has not been introduced, debated or voted on is high. The percentage chance of a personal bill passing is quite low.”
What Does The Bill Do?
Crago’s sweeping bill establishes a property tax exemption for single-family residential structures based on their prior year assessed value and forbids tax growth from the prior year to exceed 5%, serving the same function as a cap.
HB 45 has been endorsed by the Wyoming Caucus of which Crago is a member.
One of the most significant aspects of the bill is that if signed by Gov. Mark Gordon, it would go into effect immediately for the 2024 tax year. This would require county assessors to mail tax assessment schedules no later than April 22.
At the earliest, Gordon likely couldn’t sign HB 45 into law until late February. The short window between then and April 22 is what led the lawmakers to reach out, Henson and Crago said, and her department to reach out to the assessors for input and verify internally whether acting on the bill would be possible.
Locke’s Bill
While he appreciates the fact that Crago’s bill would provide property owners tax relief as soon as possible, Bear said he greatly prefers a property tax bill brought by Rep. Tony Locke, R-Casper, which like Crago’s bill, would go into effect for the current tax year.
It would apply to all residential and commercial real estate property in Wyoming and include a lower 3% cap based on tax growth or the rate of change in median household income for the county where the property is located, whichever is lower.
Although he doesn’t believe the actions Henson took were in consideration of Locke’s bill, he believes they would apply all the same.
Crago and Locke’s bill are both classified as tax exemptions, as a normal tax cap would likely infringe on the Wyoming Constitution and likely require a constitutional amendment for enactment.
A constitutional amendment on a property tax measure passed last year will go before the voters this fall.
There are at least a dozen property tax bills that will be introduced and considered in the upcoming legislative session.
Although he was already considering bringing the legislation, Crago said input and a draft proposal from the county assessors was what pushed him to finalize the bill.
On Thursday, the Wyoming County Assessor’s Association issued a press release saying it supports all forms of property tax relief proposed for the upcoming session.
Fremont County Assessor Tara Berg said she supports both Crago’s and Locke’s bills, but still has questions how Locke’s could be implemented.
“I support anything that helps our taxpayers,” Berg said.
Receiving Input
Henson said she regularly receives questions from legislators about potential bills and Crago said reaching out to state officials is something legislators should do for all of their bills before introducing them.
Crago said he would’ve still reached out even if his bill didn’t go into effect until the 2025 tax year.
“It’s what’s called good legislating,” he said. “We need to work with our partners in the executive branch.”
Bear agrees, and said he believes the actions Henson and her staff took came from “genuinely attempting to ensure” that the assessors were capable of implementing Crago or Locke’s bill. But because Crago’s bill was the only tax legislation addressed by the department, he believes the effort doesn’t pass the smell test.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at Leo@CowboyStateDaily.com.
Summer is Wyoming’s season for turning over rocks, poking into holes and walking with a perpetual hunch looking for snakes.
Herpalogists, the zoologists who study amphibians and reptiles, are out scouring the landscape and herping, the term used when they are actively flipping rocks and searching stream beds to find Wyoming’s elusive snakes in their native habitats.
Sometimes those finds can be unexpected. The fork-tongued reptiles appear on a trail when least expected.
Recently, a foot-long “nightcrawler” suddenly moved like a snake and slithered into the rocks, its tail disappearing into the shadows. Rather than a shapeshifter, this was an elusive rubber boa, Wyoming’s tiny constrictor snake that can look like a giant worm at first glance.
These rarely seen creatures are more common in the Cowboy State than most people realize.
“I personally don’t feel that any of our snakes in Wyoming are terribly rare,” said Matt Rasmussen, vice president of the Wyoming Herpetological Society. “However, a lot of them are very rarely encountered because they spend most of their lives either underground or under rocks.”
Rasmussen said most of the secretive snakes in Wyoming only come out at night or when conditions are right — typically warmer, humid times. The rubber boa, for instance, showed up on a day when it had rained and then the temperatures spiked hot.
Rasmussen helped found the new Herpetological Society two years ago to teach others to herp. He said it’s possible to learn more about our state by flipping rocks and seeing what is beneath.
“That’s the great thing with Wyoming,” Rasmussen said. “There is so little known about the herpetofauna — the frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles, etcetera — that live here, and so little known about their distribution.”
He said Wyoming is known for “large charismatic megafauna” such as bison, elk, moose and deer rather than the harder to find animals. As a result, no widespread surveying has been done on smaller non-game species. Wyoming Game and Fish has even asked for community members to help by reporting rarely seen reptiles and amphibians.
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The Great Basin gopher snake is a non-venomous snake found primarily in the western United States and parts of southwestern Canada. You can find these snakes in a wide range of habitats; grasslands, woodlands, and deserts. -
The plains hognose snake can be mistaken for a rattlesnake but is harmless to humans. -
The Eastern yellow-bellied racer is incredibly fast, alert, and primarily hunts during the day using their sharp eyesight. Harmless to humans but feisty and will bite and musky-spray if cornered or handled. -
The smooth green snake is completely non-venomous, quite secretive and rarely seen. The Wyoming Natural Diversity Database said they are mostly found in localized pockets within southeast and south-central Wyoming and the Black Hills area. Their habitat are moist meadows, marshes, stream edges, open woods since they can camouflage in lush vegetation. This snake feeds almost exclusively on insects and spiders such as crickets, grasshoppers and caterpillars.
Elusive, Not Rare
While most people think of the more common bullsnake or venomous rattlesnake when discussing reptiles, Rasmussen said Wyoming is home to many harmless snakes.
According to Rasmussen, a few snakes, such as the colorful pale milk snake and rubber boa, could be considered rare in Wyoming. However, he believes they are just harder to find and most people are not aware of them unless they stumble across them.
“There’s the plains black-headed snake, which we really don’t know much about their distribution in Wyoming,” Rasmussen said. “They’re just not studied and have a limited habitat.”
This tan snake with a black head is small and feeds primarily on centipedes and ant eggs. Rasmussen cautions that when found, rather than kill the strange looking snakes that are harmless, report finding them to Wyoming Game and Fish and leave them in their habitat.
In this way, Rasmussen said, herping can be fun. He encourages people to get into the action.
“There are some other really small fossorial snakes like smooth green snakes, which live along creeks in the mountains and eat caterpillars and spiders,” Rasmussen said. “Then there’s the Black Hills red-bellied snake, which is a very small snake that eats slugs, worms and snails primarily.”
People are often surprised that Wyoming is home to such a large variety of snakes. He especially likes to show off a milk snake, which is harmless and eats lizards and even baby rattlesnakes.
“It is a beautiful, almost tropical-looking animal that lives right here,” Rasmussen said. “They are just rarely encountered.”
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The northern rubber boa is found in the northwest corner of state such as Star Valley and east into the Bighorn Mountains. They are a small, docile, non-venomous constrictors that are rarely seen since they are excellent burrowers and climbers. The Wyoming Game and Fish consider them vulnerable/secretive and track sightings to help build their statewide database. -
The pale milk snake is not a venomous coral snake and is found in the Bighorn Basin, eastern plans and southeastern corner of Wyoming. They are rare to see because they spend their life hiding under rocks, within rocky outcrops, badland scarps, ponderosa pines, and shortgrass prairies according to the University of Wyoming. Since they are so secretive, spotting one in the wild is a rare treat and Wyoming Game and Fish is asking the public to report any sightings for their database. -
The plains black-headed snake is completely harmless because it’s mouth is too small to pierce human skin and its mild venom is for small invertebrates. Due to its secretive nature, it is rare to see one but they are known to be in southeastern Wyoming in the Platte and Carbon Counties. They are very small, secretive, burrowing snakes that spend almost all of their lives underground or hidden beneath rocks and logs, typically only surfacing at night. -
The bull snake or gopher snake is completely non-venomous but does not want you to know that. When threatened, they put on a dramatic show according to the National Park Service. The bullsnake will puff up their bodies, hiss loudly, flatten their head into a triangle and vibrate their tails in dry bush to mimic a rattlesnake. (Matt Rasmussen)
A New Snake & Frog Society
Rasmussen said the new society is trying to educate the community about these fascinating creatures in the Cowboy State that don’t get much attention, such as the skink, a short-legged lizard.
“We’re a group of herpetological enthusiasts who would like to spread the word, educate and do outreach about these animals,” he said.
This outreach includes presentations with live animals, field trips and a conference in November. Wyoming’s reptiles and amphibians remain a mystery, Rasmussen encourages reporting sightings on the app iNaturalist.
“Even if you don’t know what it is, post a picture because there are tens of thousands of experts who will identify that animal,” Rasmussen said. “That’s really important, especially for our herpetofauna in the state.”
He also pointed out that some Wyoming snakes are on the protected list, including the midget faded rattlesnake. They made the list, according to Rasmussen, because people were capturing them and they became popular in among owners who like to keep small venomous snakes as pets.
Rasmussen said awareness is the best protection for Wyoming’s elusive reptiles and he is excited to prove to residents that we don’t have rare snakes, only secretive ones.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
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