Wyoming ballot measure · November 3, 2026
Wyoming Initiative 1, explained
50% property tax exemption for a primary residence. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.
The official wordingWhat appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
PROPOSED INITIATIVE PROPOSITION NUMBER ONE Shall a law be enacted: Establishing a property tax exemption for qualified homeowners' primary residence in the amount of fifty percent (50%) of the assessed value of the dwelling; AND Defining "homeowner" and "primary residence"; providing that no more than one exemption shall apply to a single property or be claimed by a single owner per year; requiring a homeowner to be a resident of Wyoming for at least one year and to have occupied the primary residence for at least six months of the previous tax year to qualify; requiring an initial sworn claim to be filed with the county assessor by the fourth Monday in May; providing for continuing the exemption in subsequent years through annually confirming eligibility; providing a penalty for false claims; clarifying that the exemption applies to the residential structure; and specifying applicability? Estimated Fiscal Impact: Anticipated Revenue / (decrease) Fiscal Year 2028 ($92,614,266) Fiscal Year 2029 ($95,855,766) The above estimate is based on residential property assessed value and property tax data from the Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) system provided by the Department of Revenue in 2023. The future fiscal impact estimates are derived by using the January 2023 Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) report, estimating annual growth of 3.5% for properties in the future years. This is an estimate of fiscal impact to the State of Wyoming only and does not include an estimate of any impact upon political subdivisions. The proposition references a beginning in 2025, but if passed in 2026 the earliest applicable tax year would be 2027, with impact to the state beginning in 2028. Fiscal impact will apply to each year so long as the exemption is in place. __ For __ Against
What it actually means
Wyoming taxes residential property at 9.5% of fair market value, and property tax is the main source of money for schools, counties, community colleges and local services. This initiative would exempt half the assessed value of a primary residence from property tax for anyone who has lived in Wyoming a year and in the home for six months of the previous tax year. It is a statute, not a constitutional amendment, so a future Legislature could change it. It would stack on top of a set of exemptions lawmakers have already enacted since 2024 — though a homeowner claiming the long-term 65-and-over exemption could not also claim this one.
If you vote YES
- A new exemption would be added to Wyoming Statutes 39-11-105(a): 50% of the assessed value of a primary residence would be exempt from property tax.
- To claim it, a homeowner must have lived in Wyoming for at least a year and occupied the residence for at least six months of the preceding tax year, and must file a sworn claim with the county assessor by the fourth Monday in May. In later years, a phone call, letter or other contact confirming eligibility by the same date keeps it.
- "Primary residence" covers a house, trailer house, mobile home, transportable home or other dwelling place; "homeowner" covers owner-occupiers and joint owners, vendees in possession under a contract of sale, and people living in a home owned by a family farming or ranching entity they are part of.
- Only one exemption may be claimed per property and per owner each year, and false claims are punishable under W.S. 6-5-303.
- The Secretary of State's fiscal impact statement estimates a revenue decrease to the State of Wyoming of $92.6 million in fiscal year 2028 and $95.9 million in fiscal year 2029, and says it does not include the effect on counties, cities, school districts or other local governments.
- Under House Bill 45 (2026), a homeowner who claims the long-term homeowner exemption for those 65 and over could not also claim this one.
If you vote NO
- Property tax stays as it is: residential property is assessed at 9.5% of fair market value, and no across-the-board 50% exemption exists.
- The relief the Legislature has already enacted remains — the 25% exemption on the first $1 million of fair market value from Senate File 69 (2025), the 50% exemption for homeowners 65 or older who have paid Wyoming residential property taxes for 25 years, now capped at the first $3 million of fair market value under House Bill 45 (2026), and the income-based refund programme expanded by House Bill 4 (2024).
- Schools, counties, community colleges and municipalities keep the revenue the fiscal statement estimates at about $93 million a year to the state alone, plus the unquantified local share.
- Any further relief would come from the Legislature rather than from the ballot, as it has each session since 2024.
The numbers that matter
- Estimated state revenue decrease
- $92,614,266 in FY2028 and $95,855,766 in FY2029
- Size of the exemption
- 50% of the assessed value of the primary residence
- Residential assessment rate
- 9.5% of fair market value
- Reported campaign funds
- $11,308 for; $455,196 against
- Votes needed to pass
- More than half of the votes cast in the general election
Estimated fiscal impact printed on the ballot; state impact only, excludes counties, cities and school districts
Text of the initiative
Wyoming Department of Revenue, 2026
Campaign finance reports through August 28, 2026; the opposing committee's money came almost entirely from the National Education Association and Wyoming Education Association
Wyoming's threshold for an initiated law; a blank ballot on the question counts against it
What each side says3 for, 3 against — quoted, not summarised
Why supporters say YES
"[Initiative 1 would mean] 100,000 retired people on fixed incomes won't lose their home because they can't afford property tax. All the working people looking at buying a home will be able to afford their government rent (property tax). Families struggling to make ends meet. Homeowners who try to budget and then get hit by … unexpected increases in their property taxes."
— BCR Initiatives, the sponsoring committee
"It's not fair that the people who pay property taxes have to be the ones that bear all the brunt of our economy. Right? Everybody should bear the brunt of our economy."
— Cheryl Aguiar, initiative sponsor
"I think it is necessary that we have property tax relief especially for our older residents who are on fixed incomes."
— Chuck Halloway, Sheridan College trustee
Why opponents say NO
"Prop 1 proposes a 50% cut in property taxes but has no plan for how to replace over $125 million in lost funding in year one. With annual increases, Wyoming will face $1.4 billion in lost funding over the next ten years. There has to be a plan for how towns, cities, and counties will operate essential services for our communities and this measure leaves too many unanswered questions."
— Vote NO on Initiative #1, the opposing campaign committee
"This initiative will help rich people the most at the expense of Wyoming's kids and its communities. There's a better way to provide meaningful tax relief to those who really need it."
— State Rep. Liz Storer (D-23)
"This initiative hurts our college disproportionately more whereas Sweetwater County has so much more revenue coming from commercial, if you will, than we do. It's going to hurt them and it will."
— Walter Tribley, president, Sheridan College
What's genuinely uncertain
- The official estimate covers the state only. The Secretary of State's statement says explicitly that it "does not include an estimate of any impact upon political subdivisions" — counties, cities, school districts and community colleges. The opposing campaign's $125 million first-year and $1.4 billion ten-year figures are its own and include that local share; no official estimate of it was published.
- The initiative text says it applies to tax year 2025. The Secretary of State's ballot statement resolves this by saying that if it passes in 2026 the earliest applicable tax year would be 2027, with impact to the state beginning in 2028, but the statute's own wording has not been reconciled.
- How the exemption interacts with the relief the Legislature has already enacted is only partly settled: House Bill 45 (2026) bars claiming this alongside the long-term 65-and-over exemption, but the treatment of the 25% exemption from Senate File 69 (2025) is not spelled out on the ballot.
- Because this is a statute and not a constitutional amendment, the Legislature could amend or repeal it — subject to Wyoming's rule that an initiated law may not be repealed within two years of taking effect.
- Spending is lopsided: through August 28, 2026, the opposing committee reported $455,196, almost all from the National Education Association and the Wyoming Education Association, against $11,308 for the sponsoring committee.
The bottom line
Halving the taxable value of every Wyoming primary residence, on top of the relief the Legislature has already passed, against roughly $93 million a year less to the state and an unmeasured amount less to the schools, counties and colleges that property tax pays for.
One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.
Sources (2)The numbers in the text above link here
Checking it against the official text
The Wyoming Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.
Confirm this with the official source
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Wyoming Secretary of State.