Wyoming

Wyoming property tax refunds jump 72% to $14.2M – WyoFile

Published

1 year ago

December 17, 2024

Wyoming property tax refunds jump 72% to .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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Wyoming

Wyoming Coaches Pick the Best of 1A & 2A Boys Basketball in 2026

Published

10 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming Coaches Pick the Best of 1A & 2A Boys Basketball in 2026

The top boys’ basketball players in Wyoming for Classes 1A and 2A were chosen for the 2026 high school season. The Wyoming Coaches Association has unveiled the all-state awards for this year, as voted on by the head coaches in the two classifications, respectively. The Wyoming Coaches Association only recognizes one team for all-state, and only these players receive an award certificate from the WCA. WyoPreps only lists all-state players as defined by the WCA.

WCA 1A-2A BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-STATE SELECTIONS IN 2026

Each class selected 14 players for all-state, reflecting a broad recognition of talent across Wyoming. Notably, congratulations go to Hulett’s Kyle Smith, Brady Cook from Lingle-Fort Laramie, and Carsten Freeburg from Pine Bluffs, who earned all-state honors for the third straight year. In addition, eight more players achieved all-state status for the second time in their prep careers.

Class 1A

Paul McNiven – Burlington

Bitner Philpott – Burlington

Ammon Hatch – Cokeville (All-State in 2025)

Hudson Himmerich – Cokeville

Kyle Smith – Hulett (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Anthony Arnusch – Lingle-Ft. Laramie

Brady Cook – Lingle-Ft. Laramie (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Tymber Cozzens – Little Snake River (All-State in 2025)

Corbin Matthews – Lusk

Max Potas – Meeteetse (All-State in 2024)

Jace Westring – Saratoga

Hazen Williams – Saratoga

TJ Moats – Southeast (All-State in 2024)

Nic Schiller – Upton

Read More Boys Basketball News from WyoPreps

WyoPreps 1A-2A State Basketball Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps 3A-4A Regional Basketball Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Final Basketball Poll 2026

1A-2A Boys Basketball Regional Scoreboard 2026

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 11 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-25-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 10 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-18-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 9 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-11-26

WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 8 Scores 2026

WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 2-4-26

Class 2A

Caleb Adsit – Big Horn

Chase Garber – Big Horn

Carsten Freeburg – Pine Bluffs (All-State 2024 & 2025)

Mason Moss – Rocky Mountain

Oakley Hicks – Shoshoni

Kade Mills – Sundance

Cody Bomengen – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)

Zak Hastie – Thermopolis

Ellis Webber – Thermopolis (All-State in 2025)

Joseph Kimbrell – Wright

Mitchell Strohschein – Wright (All-State in 2025)

Adriano Brown – Wyoming Indian

Heeyei’Niitou Monroe-Black – Wyoming Indian (All-State in 2025)

Cordell Spoonhunter – Wyoming Indian

The 2026 state champions were the Saratoga Panthers in Class 1A. They beat Lingle-Fort Laramie, 50-45, in the championship game. The 2A winners were the Thermopolis Bobcats, who repeated as champions, after a 45-38 victory over Wyoming Indian in the title game.

Lusk versus Rock River high school basketball 2026

Game action between the Tigers and Longhorns

Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Lisa Shaw

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Wyoming

New laws establish a statewide literacy program

Published

22 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

New laws establish a statewide literacy program

A pair of bills signed into law last week aim to build out a more comprehensive system of literacy education across Wyoming’s public schools.

One mandates evidence-based practices and requires regular screenings for dyslexia, while the other enables the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to hire a dedicated literacy professional to oversee statewide compliance.

Gov. Mark Gordon’s signing of both bills on Friday was the latest accomplishment of an ongoing push for improved literacy standards. That push has been spearheaded by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

“Wyoming is not going to let a single child fall through the cracks,” Degenfelder said during a public bill signing last week. “We are not going to fall behind when it comes to ensuring that our children can read at grade level.”

The primary bill, Senate File 59, establishes a statewide K-12 program for teaching students to read that is built on “evidence based language and literacy instruction, assessment, intervention and professional development that supports educators, engages families and promotes literacy proficiency for all Wyoming students.”

The bill defines evidence-based strategies as those that conform to the science of reading, a term that will be defined and updated by Degenfelder’s office. Nationwide, it generally means putting academic research into practice in classrooms. SF 59 specifically prohibits the exclusive use of “three-cueing” — a strategy once widely employed to teach reading but which education experts now say is outdated and less effective than other strategies.

It also requires annual dyslexia screeners for students below the third grade, and testing for reading difficulties for all students.

The screeners are used to identify the severity of reading difficulties in order to direct “tiered” support that offers the most intensive interventions to the students most in need, while still providing “evidence based” language instruction to all students.

Each school district must formulate an individualized reading plan “for each student identified as having reading difficulties or at risk for poor reading outcomes.”

Districts must now report to the state annually regarding their literacy-related work. Any district where 60% or more of the students are struggling will be required to implement “summer literacy camps or extended supports, including after school support and tutoring.”

The bill also requires literacy related professional development for teachers and specialists “appropriate to their role and level of responsibility” related to literacy education.

SF 59 was backed by dyslexia advocates and literacy specialists.

Senate File 14, the other literacy bill signed into law Friday, appropriates $120,000 annually for the next two years for a full-time position at WDE “to assist school districts in implementing a reading assessment and intervention program and language and literacy programs.”

Both bills go into effect July 1.

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Wyoming

Wyoming Announces 2026 Football Schedule – SweetwaterNOW

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Wyoming Announces 2026 Football Schedule

Samuel “Tote” Harris. Photo from gowyo.com

LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference announced the Cowboys’ 2026 football schedule Monday, a slate that opens with the Border War and concludes with back-to-back home games in Laramie.

Wyoming opens the season Sept. 5 on the road against Colorado State in the 118th edition of the Border War. The Cowboys then host Northern Colorado on Sept. 12 in the home opener before traveling to Central Michigan on Sept. 19.

The Cowboys begin Mountain West play Sept. 26 at home against Hawaii in a matchup for the Paniolo Trophy. Wyoming then faces back-to-back road games at North Dakota State on Oct. 3 and San Jose State on Oct. 10.

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Wyoming returns to War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 17 to host conference newcomer Northern Illinois before facing Air Force at home on Oct. 24. The Cowboys will have an open week on Oct. 31.

The Cowboys open November with road games at UNLV on Nov. 7 and at UTEP on Nov. 14, marking Wyoming’s first meeting with the Miners as members of the Mountain West. Wyoming closes conference play by hosting New Mexico on Nov. 21 and wraps up the regular season with a nonconference game against UConn on Nov. 28 in Laramie.

Each Mountain West team will play four home and four road conference games during the 13-week season, which will conclude with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages. The championship game date will be announced later.

With the conference schedule set, Mountain West television partners CBS Sports, FOX Sports, and The CW will begin selecting broadcast games, which could include moving some contests to non-Saturday dates. Network assignments and kickoff times will be announced at a later date.

Season ticket renewals for the 2026 Wyoming football season are now available. Fans can renew their tickets online by visiting gowyo.com/tickets and logging into their account.

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