Wyoming
Wyoming property tax refunds jump 72% to $14.2M – WyoFile
Wyoming refunded $14.2 million in property taxes to state homeowners in 2024, about $6 million more than the statewide relief program doled out in 2023.
The Wyoming Department of Revenue recently reported the 2024 payment totals amounted to a 72% increase, according to WyoFile calculations.
In addition to the dollars refunded, the number of households receiving refunds also increased this year, jumping from 8,818 to 13,485. The 4,667 additional households that applied for and received property tax refunds this year amount to an uptick of about 52% compared to 2023, due in part to changes enacted by lawmakers.
Lawmakers should add $10.5 million to the refund program through the state’s supplemental budget for next year’s operations, Department of Revenue Director Brenda Henson told the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee last week.
“The property tax refund program is the only needs-based, income-tested relief program that’s on the books today.”
Brenda Henson
The two-year budget for the program amounted to $20 million. The supplemental budget request would bring the account back up to $16.2 million for 2024 tax year refunds.
“I think there’s always been a need for property tax relief,” Henson, who served as a county assessor for 16 years, told the panel. “The property tax refund program is the only needs-based, income-tested relief program that’s on the books today.
“We believe that that additional $10.5 million will be sufficient to fund refunds for [tax year] 2024.”
The refunds distributed this year were for property taxes paid in 2023. To qualify for a refund, members of a household had to apply and show they met certain income, tax and asset requirements and limits.
The state program is separate from additional county tax refund programs available in 2024 in Albany, Converse, Lincoln, Sublette and Teton counties.
Teton tops another list
Among Wyoming’s 23 counties, Teton County got the largest share of state refund money this year, receiving $2.9 million. The 630 refunds in Teton County averaged $4,666.
Laramie County households received the second largest share of the funds — $2.2 million altogether. The 2,245 refunds, the largest county total, averaged $997.
Park County’s average refund at $1,178 was the second highest after Teton County’s. Those funds went to 1,645 successful applicants.
That Teton County — where staggering incomes and immense property values skew statistics — would receive the largest share of tax breaks raised questions from one lawmaker. Federal data shows the average per capita income for a Teton County resident was $471,751 last year, the highest in the nation.
“Teton County is the highest average dollar refund,” Sen. Jim Anderson, (R-Casper) said at the appropriations meeting. “I would think that wouldn’t be so if [the program] was income-related.”
The tax relief program is designed for home-owning residents, Anderson observed, not for absentee landlords or owners of rental properties — types of housing that may be more common in Teton County’s resort and tourist-heavy communities than in other parts of Wyoming.
“This has to do with owner-occupied houses,” Anderson said of the refund program. “I was thinking that would decrease the Teton County [refunds], but it’s four times what everybody else is.”
Property values drove the Teton figure up, Henson said.
“Obviously, fair market value of residential properties in Teton County is significantly higher” than other counties, she said. “So that’s why that refund amount is higher.”
Teton County’s assessed value for residential land, improvements and personal property amounted to $3.7 billion in 2024, Henson told the Joint Revenue Committee last month. That figure for the entire state amounted to $10.4 billion.
Teton County’s assessed residential value is more than three times the value in Laramie County, the next highest, which is $1.2 billion for 2024, according to Henson’s presentation. Yet Teton County has a population of 23,167 compared to Laramie County’s 101,187.
Residential value makes up 86% of Teton County’s total assessed value, according to Department of Revenue information. Statewide, counties’ residential value averages 32% of their overall assessed value, state information shows.
The supplemental budget will be debated when the Legislature convenes early next year.
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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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