Lawmakers need to avoid blanket solutions

No one likes being micromanaged.

For the past several years, Wyoming legislators have criticized the federal government for overstepping its bounds and getting involved in matters that they believe are best left up to the individual states, trying to solve a Wyoming problem with a D.C. solution.

But what happens when the state gets too involved at the local level? It happens more than it should, and according to some local elected officials, it was on full display during this legislative session.

At a meeting of county elected officials this week, speaking about Senate File 69, Commissioner Scott Clem said the state is “inadvertently micromanaging” the budgets of counties, cities and special districts all over the state.

This bill, which provides homeowners with a 25% property tax exemption on the first $1 million of their house’s value, was signed into law by Gov. Mark Gordon this week. It has no backfill for local governments.

Now, going into the legislative session, lawmakers all over the state said the top issue that voters wanted them to address was property tax relief, especially after the 2024 legislative session, which provided but a few band-aid fixes but nothing substantial.

And to their credit, Senate File 69 will likely give homeowners some of the tax relief they’ve been looking for. But at what cost?

Local property taxes fund the local government. A reduction in money coming in to local government, logically, means a reduction in the services they’re able to offer. That, or the local government will have to find another way to make up the loss in revenue.

Then again, if this is what the people want, as legislators have echoed the last few months, this is what they’ll get. Perhaps counties, cities and special districts need to get used to a new era of lower budgets. They will have to make tough decisions on where to cut back.

But will the taxpayers be OK with that? That remains to be seen. They may want tax relief, but they also want good roads and competent law enforcement.

I expect public safety and infrastructure to be at the top of priority lists in communities across the state. The less essential services, whatever those may be, will be the first ones to see the cuts. I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions.

Lawmakers write the rules, but it’s up to the local governments to enforce those rules. I get that it’s important to talk to the voters, the regular, everyday people who look to legislators to solve their problems.

But it’s just as important to speak with the officials who will have to deal with the effects of those new laws. I don’t know how much of this communication is going on, based on what the local elected officials are saying.

It’s easy to suggest a blanket solution to a problem.

But in most cases, if you throw a blanket over a group of people, the blanket won’t be big enough, and someone is getting left out in the cold.