This worked fine for the most part for most of Wyoming s history but due to the erosion of property tax bases in many counties, location of minerals and partial assessments of property, it increasingly became obvious that not all of the local governments were able to raise sufficient revenues to carry out the state tasks delegated to them. This dilemma was first extensively discussed in a series of reports produced for the Wyoming Legislature by a consultant, Griffenhagen and Associates, in 1933. This report also discussed ways to deliver state and local services in a more cost effective manner by looking more closely at organizational structures of the state, counties, municipalities and other local governments. The practice of partial assessments which was probably not contemplated by the constitutional fathers. Minerals are not located in all counties such that property tax revenues from minerals do not provide the same level of support in all counties under the county constitutional mill levy.
Municipalities receive little or no property taxes from mineral valuations.
School districts were underfunded due to the decrease in values during the depression and a supplement from a state sales tax was discussed. This problem was addressed in 1955 with the adoption of the first School Foundation Program which set a floor of revenues for each school district. In 1937, the first state wide sales and use taxes were adopted by the Wyoming Legislature and it appears that the first sharing of this revenue with local government commenced in 1967 whereby one sixth of the revenue produced was so shared. At the same time local sales taxes were preempted by the state. Then came industrial development and impact in the 1970's.