Dave Simpson: Don't Fall For The Same Old 'Sky Is Falling' Routine

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “The public services you value most are supposedly threatened as a bill to cut property taxes by 50 percent lumbers its way through the Wyoming Legislature.”

Don't look now, but here comes the Parade of Horribles.

The public services you value most are supposedly threatened as a bill to cut property taxes by 50 percent lumbers its way through the Wyoming House, then back to the Wyoming Senate for concurrence.

Last week, police chiefs, sheriffs, first responders and firefighters voiced fears of massive budget cuts if Senate File 69 passes.

The sheriff of Laramie County – who my wife and I both think is doing a great job – fears he might have to lay off 25 employees if one version of the bill, since amended, becomes law. This after he worked hard to fill vacancies, even posting a billboard in Denver to attract deputies.

As a veteran of local tax battles, however, this tactic of posing the worst possible outcome is familiar. Complain about school taxes, and you can be branded a “tax nut.” Make enough noise and school administrators might threaten to cut the most popular programs first, like the football team, or the marching band.

You could call it the “shoot the Cocker Spaniel strategy,” proposing the most drastic outcome if officials are required to cut spending. (A famous Harvard Lampoon Magazine cover featured a picture of a dog with a gun held to his head. “Buy this magazine,” the headline said, “or we'll shoot this dog!”)

In one tax fight years ago, in another state, I heard the claim that capping property tax increases at the rate of inflation would mean the county could “never buy another snow plow.” (Not true. The cap passed. The roads still got plowed.)

School superintendents can be clever rascals when defending their spending. In one state, they cited the “triple whammy” tax caps would inflict on their districts if passed. (I once knew what the whammies were, but have since, thankfully, forgotten. The whammies never materialized.)

So it comes as no surprise that uniformed public servants – the heroes who put out the fire at your house, haul you to the hospital, or nab the neighborhood window peeper – would be at the Capitol reminding lawmakers of how important their work is. And it is.

But consider this. Laramie County, where I live, was reportedly able to salt away the entire property tax collection last year of $32 million into reserves. Total reserves for the county are $92 million.

Given those reserves, what are the chances our sheriff will have to lay off 25 employees if Senate File 69 passes? If our county is dumb enough to gut law enforcement at the same time it has $92 million in reserves, voters will oust every incumbent on the ballot.

Campbell County reportedly has $260 million in reserves. Given the precarious state of the coal industry, that might be defensible. But these big numbers sure don't look like desperate times, times when we have to cripple public safety.

Some lawmakers seem to like the idea that tax cuts will have consequences at the local level, as if to teach Wyomingites crying out for property tax relief some kind of  lesson.

The most extreme instance, obviously, is in Jackson, where you apparently have to be a multi-millionaire to buy a house.

But here in Laramie County, property values have increased to such an extent that we could no longer afford to build the house we built in 2013.

The size of that county reserve is galling, considering the increases we've paid in property taxes. You can't help but think some fat hogs are being cut, and some government entities are quietly, happily taking the windfall.

The latest iteration of the property tax bill seems to help towns like Jackson, without decimating towns like Lusk, which would be a good, basing the cut on tax increases experienced locally between 2019 and 2024.

This is a complicated deal, with triple whammies lurking, and snowplows that need to be replaced from time to time.

But, with $92 million in the bank, my guess is the sheriff we like here in Laramie County isn't going to have to lay off those 25 employees any time soon.

With that kind of money in the bank, I think the Parade of Horribles is pretty unlikely.

 Dave Simpson can be reached at: DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com