GREEN RIVER – An amendment to the Wyoming Constitution was approved by voters Tuesday which will allow the separation of residential real property into its own classification for property tax assessment.

The amendment faced a unique challenge in that it had to be supported by at least 50%, plus one, of the total number of voters in the election. Undervotes, where a voter does not mark a choice for a ballot question, count as a vote against the amendment.

According to the unofficial election results released by the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office, the amendment received 146,300 votes in support statewide, with 100,375 votes against and 24,261 undervotes. The amendment received favorable support in Sweetwater County as well, with 8,580 votes supporting the amendment and 6,674 against. There were 1,551 Sweetwater County undervotes reported for the ballot question.

The amendment came about as the Wyoming Legislature worked to address large increases in property taxes that were fueled by a heated residential property market during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Wyoming counties, including Sublette and Sheridan Counties, had instances where property buyers from outside of Wyoming would purchase homes with cash, which often would result in bidding wars between potential buyers. Those increased purchase values in turn drove property assessment values higher, leading to higher property taxes assessed within some counties.

The amendment had support from Wyoming Realtors, with a political action committee named 4 Wyoming pouring more than $500,000 in funds to support the initiative. However, there were some concerns as well. Sweetwater County Assessor Dave Divis said he was concerned about the amendment’s passage as it might represent too much being done to address the property tax issue. With bills passed in 2024 that increased an already existing veteran’s tax exemption, set a 4% ceiling on property tax increases for residential structures and created a temporary long-term homeowners tax exemption, Divis’ concern is the legislature could harm counties and school districts that rely on revenue from residential property taxes after the amendment passes. While Sweetwater County receives much of its revenue from assessed mineral and industrial valuations, other counties don’t have that mineral wealth and rely more on taxes based on property valuations for funding.