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Local chair for Wyoming property tax reduction petition starts canvassing

Gillette resident Holly Galloway, the petitioning group's chair for Campbell County, said the group needs to collect 1,910 signatures, which must be from registered voters who voted in the prior election.

Holly Galloway (Holly Galloway)

GILLETTE, Wyo. — A group of Wyomingites is petitioning to cut property taxes in half for homeowners’ residences starting in 2025.

Gillette resident Holly Galloway, the petitioning group’s chair for Campbell County, said the group needs to collect 1,910 signatures, which must be from registered voters who voted in the prior election. That number represents 15% of the total votes cast in Campbell County in 2022. The petition signers do not need to be property owners. The petition asks that there be a tax exemption for homeowners’ primary residence in the amount of half of the property’s assessed value.

Galloway said she handed out a petition for the first time Oct. 21. Campbell County residents’ opportunities to sign the petition include 4 p.m. Oct. 26 at Campbell County Public Library, 2101 S. 4-J Road, Gillette, before the Campbell County Republican Party’s meeting, which is at 6 p.m. Those who sign the petition must provide their address, name and signature.

Galloway said her property taxes went up $400 this year and property taxes have risen in each of the last three years by 6%, 13.11% and 16%, respectively.

“When you own a home, you shouldn’t have to have a landlord called the government,” she said.

She said homeowners can spend their own money more wisely than state legislators would and the state has enough savings. She considers the petition nonpartisan, as property taxes have increased for homeowners regardless of their political affiliations.

“The people’s right to propose and enact laws by initiative to address fundamental issues, such as property tax limits, is pivotal to our state,” Secretary Chuck Gray said in a statement Oct. 19. “At the Secretary of State’s Office, we take our role in the initiative process very seriously, and will work diligently to ensure the ‘People’s Initiative to Limit Property Tax in Wyoming through a Homeowner’s Exemption’ is processed efficiently and in accordance with Wyoming law.”

Campbell County Board of Commissioners Chair Colleen Faber said that while she has not read the details of the petition, she supports property tax relief for Wyoming residents.

“The ‘homestead exemption’ approach has been widely supported across the state,” she said.

Gillette Public Affairs Director Jennifer Toscana, Campbell County School District Superintendent Alex Ayers and school board chair Anne Ochs were not immediately available for comment.

Ayers said Oct. 24 that he does not have a comment. Ochs said the evening of Oct. 23 that she is out of town.

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