Originally reported by Cap City News
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Senate resumed debate over the term “permanent” when discussing House Bill 0047 ahead of second reading on Tuesday, March 3.
The bill aims to allow municipalities a path to impose “seventh penny” local sales and use taxes on top of county “fifth penny” and “sixth penny” sales and use taxes.
While the bill has moved through both the House and Senate, questions have arisen as to whether counties and towns should be allowed to make such taxes “permanent.”
Under current Wyoming law, county-wide sales taxes can only be imposed after a majority of voters in the county approve the imposition of such taxes. But once voters have approved a “fifth penny” tax, county commissioners can extend the tax without asking voters to renew it.
They can do so by passing a resolution if at least 50% of the governing bodies of municipalities in the county pass ordinances along the same lines.
“My understanding is it has happened in two counties,” Senate District 22 Senator Dave Kinskey said.
He pointed out that provisions allow the county-wide taxes to be recalled even if county commissioners attempt to renew the taxes via resolution.
“There is already a provision to recall it at the ballot,” he said.
Senate District 30 Senator Charles Scott offered an amendment to the bill which would eliminate the means to make county and municipal sales and use taxes permanent.
“What this amendment does is limit the term for which the tax can be imposed to four years,” he said. “I think that permanency is unwise on one of these optional taxes. It makes the local governments much more responsive [to voters]. I think that is very valuable.”
Senate District 25 Senator Cale Case said that he was against the amendment.
“If you want to have it permanent, the counties can do it,” he said. “I’m sorry folks, but sales tax is going to be a bigger part of our future and the local level and possibly at the state.”
Senate District 18 Senator Henry Coe said that he didn’t think the bill should be amended since it was the result of a lot of work during the interim between the 2019 legislative session and the legislature’s 2020 budget session.
“It was a balancing act,” he said. “You balance the counties and you balance the municipalities. If you adopt this amendment, you jeopardize fine balance.”
The Senate passed Scott’s amendment.
Senate District 03 Senator Cheri Steinmetz offered a different amendment which would have ensured that at least two-thirds the governing bodies of municipalities in a county agree to put an item on the ballot asking voters whether they support a county-wide sales and use tax.
That is the threshold under existing Wyoming law, but the bill proposes lowering this threshold to 50% of the governing bodies of municipalities.
“Reinstate the two-thirds,” Steinmetz said. “It just requires that high bar and that delicate balance.”
Read the full story on Cap City News here….
