Court Opinion

ID: 9537174
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:13:46.425669+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:56:09.481876
License: Public Domain

BROWN, Chief Justice,
special concurrence.
A homeowner in Kemmerer pays $100 more in taxes per year than does a Cheyenne resident for a house of twice the value. Since the beginning of the school foundation program, the taxpayer in the provinces has subsidized the schools in the capital city.
I agree in theory with the subsidy scheme. Every student in Wyoming is entitled to a quality education even if he or she happens to live in a geographic area that generates low tax revenue compared to the number of students to be educated.
In Washakie County School District Number One v. Herschler, Wyo., 606 P.2d 310 (1980), we succinctly explained the taxation scheme under the school foundation program.
“ * * * [W]here local resources are high in some cases, little or no foundation funds are paid by the State to the district. Schools that raise relatively large amounts of money through property taxation receive considerably less support, if any, from the Foundation Fund than those districts where a comparable levy raises a smaller amount of money. If a district’s assessed valuation — its tax base — is relatively high, it is able to raise enough money to go beyond the foundation program, whereas another district with low assessed valuation cannot increase its revenues to such a level even by taking advantage of all available location taxes.”
The property assessment authority in Laramie County and four other counties under assessed the property in their counties. In Laramie, the under assessment was 30.76 percent low for non-agricultural land. The effect of this under assessment was that the subsidy to Laramie County schools increased at the expense of counties that did not under assess property.
In 1983, the legislature enacted § 21-13-310(c), W.S.1977, in an effort to encourage Laramie County and four other counties to properly assess their property.
The statute had the effect of reducing (not eliminating) the subsidy to an under assessed district by the amount of tax revenues lost due to the under assessment. In applying the statute in this case, Laramie County School District No. 1 experienced a slight reduction in its subsidy.
The enactment of § 21-13-310(c), W.S. 1977, was designed to achieve just and equitable assessments, by providing an incentive for the assessment authority in the counties to properly assess county property. Unfortunately, the statute is unconstitutional as explained in this court's well reasoned opinion.
Some method should be devised to encourage or require the counties to properly assess their property. Otherwise, some counties will continue to under assess their property and put an additional tax burden on the counties who follow the law and properly assess their property.
I reluctantly agree with this court’s opinion. However, I feel uncomfortable in concurring with an opinion that is to my financial advantage.