Wyoming
Real estate group pours more than half a million dollars into property tax campaign
By Maggie Mullen
A political action committee tied to a statewide real estate group has spent half a million dollars since late September backing a constitutional amendment on November’s ballot aimed at property tax reform — an extraordinary amount of money for Wyoming elections in a short period of time.
Affiliated with Wyoming Realtors, the 4 Wyoming PAC has spent about $544,000 on advertising, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office this week.
In the wake of surging property taxes in much of the state, lawmakers set the constitutional amendment into motion in 2023. As is, the Wyoming Constitution groups residential property in the same tax class as commercial and agricultural properties. That’s largely prevented legislators from making isolated changes to how homes are taxed.
If voters adopt the measure, the constitution would be amended to separate residential property into a distinct tax class, thereby creating a fourth tier and making it easier for lawmakers to address the issue.
The opportunity is a long time coming, Laurie Urbigkit with the association told WyoFile.
“Wyoming Realtors have had a long-standing position that we believe there should have been a fourth tier [in the Constitution],” Urbigkit said. “This is the first time we’ve ever gotten any traction with that.”
“We believe in home ownership, and the homeowners of Wyoming do not really have an organization that represents them, so we feel that it’s our responsibility,” Urbigkit said. “So, yeah, we took it on”
As legislation, the measure received the requisite two-thirds support from lawmakers to put it on the ballot, but there’s been little to no formalized campaigning by politicians either for or against the amendment since then.
Legislators who have vocalized support via the press or on social media include some unlikely bedfellows. While some prominent members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus have come out against the amendment — including some who supported it as a bill — over concerns that it could lead to increased taxes, Rep. Mike Yin (D-Jackson) and outgoing Sen. Anthony Bouchard (R-Cheyenne) have both been vocal in their support of the amendment.
“Having a separate tax class on ‘owner-occupied residential property’ is exactly how the Legislature can get inflated taxes under control,” Bouchard wrote on his Facebook page.
Far and away, Wyoming Realtors with its affiliated PAC is the most organized and well-funded effort to weigh in on the measure.
To be adopted, the amendment will need a majority of the total ballots cast in the general election.
Contributions and expenditures
Wyoming Realtors formed a PAC several decades ago, but it was created in such a way to only accept contributions from realtors who live and work in Wyoming, Urbigkit said.
“We set up a separate PAC so we could get money from anybody else that wanted to chime, in” Urbigkit said. “And we did raise quite a bit of money just from individuals.”
The PAC’s primary election campaign finance report shows that 27 individuals gave about $15,300. Most were listed as donors from Teton County, where property values have skyrocketed to some of the highest in the country.
“The majority of our funding is through the Wyoming Realtors,” Urbigkit said, referencing a decision by the organization’s board of directors “to go all in on this.”
Altogether, the association contributed about $544,000 to the PAC, according to the general election finance report.
For context, the most expensive race in Wyoming this year — excluding federal races — has been Darin Smith, who spent about $111,000 in Senate District 6. In 2022, Gov. Mark Gordon had the most expensive campaign, spending about $903,000 on his reelection bid.
With the exception of a $45 banking fee, the PAC’s spending has been entirely on advertising, including $16,000 to Cowboy State Daily and $269,900 to Arena LLC, a Utah-based advertising agency.
“Comparing your home to a luxury resort is like comparing apples to oranges… So why are they being taxed the same?” a digital ad texted to voters from the PAC reads.
“In Wyoming, seniors on fixed incomes pay the same property tax rate as mega corporations,” the ad reads. “Amendment A changes that, and allows our homes to be taxed at a lower, fairer rate than commercial properties. Vote YES on Amendment A!”
While opposition to the amendment may not be as prominent, the odds of the measure passing might be closer to a coin flip, if historical trends are any indication.
Twenty-two constitutional amendments have appeared on the ballot in Wyoming since 2000, according to secretary of state records. Voters approved 13 of those, including one in 2012 guaranteeing citizens the right to make their own health care decisions, which is now at the center of ongoing litigation involving Wyoming’s abortion bans.
Early voting is underway in Wyoming. The election is Nov. 5.
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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