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One topic expected to make a big splash during Wyoming's general legislative session is property taxes at many levels.

First on the agenda for the Freedom Caucus, Wyoming's House majority faction, is a 25 percent property tax cut on homes up to $2 million in value, passed by both chambers in 2024. Governor Mark Gordon vetoed it, calling the fix "temporary and very expensive," as the state would have to pay the backfill.

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Hank Hoversland, executive director of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association, said another piece at play is a state constitutional amendment voters passed in November.

"That provides the legislature a vehicle to make a separate class for property taxation purposes, that is, residential real property," Hoversland explained. "Then, it also allows there to be a subclass for owner-occupied, single-family residences."

Though the amendment passed, Hoversland pointed out legislators need to take action this session in order to give the change legs.

At the industry level, Wyoming law includes a property tax exemption for "property used to eliminate, control or prevent air, water or land pollution." Senate File 61, sponsored by Senator Cale Case, R-Lander, would clarify carbon dioxide shouldn't count as pollution so the state can tax incoming carbon capture projects.

Hoversland stressed energy companies pay a large portion of taxes in the state.

"Just this past tax year, minerals paid about 46 percent of property taxes, while the all-other category -- including industrial, commercial, residential and ag -- paid 54 percent total," Hoversland outlined.

Earlier this month, the state also certified the first Wyoming citizen's ballot initiative in 30 years, slated to appear on ballots in 2026. It proposes cutting residential property taxes by 50 percent for homeowners who have lived in Wyoming for at least one year.