SVI Radio Interview: Rep. McKay Erickson – Proposition 1

Thanks for having me on. (0:19) Absolutely appreciate your time. And of course, voting day today, (0:23) the general election polls are open now, will be until seven.

(0:25) Wanted to bring you on the air to talk about Prop 1, the people’s initiative to limit property (0:30) tax in Wyoming through homeowners’ property exemption. Representative, as you look at this, (0:35) maybe explain to our listeners what it is and if you’ve heard any maybe common misconceptions on (0:41) what it does or what it does not do that maybe are worth clarifying. (0:46) Okay, yeah, you bet, Duke.

I hope that I have dotted my eyes and crossed my T’s on this, (0:54) done a very deep dive because it is such a big deal and it’s been coming down the line for quite (1:00) some time and it has a lot to do with both things that I’ve talked about a lot, which is we’ve got (1:07) to find property tax relief and we’ve got to reform it and we’ve got to make significant changes to (1:15) that. And so, yeah, I hope that we’ve done our homework and can kind of see what this is doing (1:21) and what it will not do and then some of the misconceptions about it. But (1:27) there’s no doubt about it, Wyoming taxpayers deserve property tax relief, but in this (1:34) particular case and what I’ve found and what I can see and the property tax relief that we’ve (1:40) already given, this is too deep and it is definitely going to cause the expense of (1:47) essential services.

And we’ve got too many small districts that just don’t have other means of (1:56) being able to survive without this, plus it significantly takes away the local control. (2:02) Everybody’s saying, oh, the state has so much money, let’s just shift it to the state away from (2:08) the local property tax. Well, the state does have a considerable amount of money that is put away (2:15) in funding that the interest off of those, that amount of money that was raised from mineral taxes (2:23) and not other taxes, not property tax.

They want to quickly spend that and shift that burden to (2:33) the state. And that is a big warning sign to me that that takes away local control. (2:40) So that is another reason that I’m against it.

And a big reason is I like local dollars being (2:47) spent locally and people that we’ve elected to be able to make those determinations in the towns (2:54) and counties and special districts that are so prevalent throughout rural Wyoming. So those are (3:01) a couple of major things that I have a big concern with Proposition 1. (3:08) Representative, there’s kind of two different sides to the cut. Should this pass? You have one (3:13) on the education side and then another on the tax districts, the special tax district side.

(3:19) So let’s focus first on the education side. And obviously, education’s been, (3:24) it’s always something that’s talked about with the legislature, but really has had the spotlight (3:30) on the last couple of years. How do you think, how do you see the state responding to this? (3:35) Should this pass? Because there’s been those lawsuits.

So do you feel like that regardless, (3:40) education would be funded through this, that the state would have to find a way to do it? (3:45) Oh, absolutely, yes. That was clear in the court decisions was that Wyoming is not allocating its (3:53) money towards education the way that it’s stated out in the Constitution that we do so. So yeah, (3:59) that’s got to be funded.

There’s no doubt about it. But it’s just the matter of how many (4:04) Hail Marys we throw in order to be able to try to fund that. And here is a secure way of funding (4:12) schools.

We know that local property tax, 75% of those go to our schools. And in my case, (4:20) I certainly think that that’s very important. And I know a lot of my constituents in Lincoln County (4:26) feel that education, our public education is very important and should be adequately funded.

(4:32) And property taxes has been doing that significantly. And then on the other hand, (4:40) you hear a lot of the criticism about, well, I don’t have kids in school anymore. Well, (4:45) we have given a 50% property tax exemption to those that are 65 and older and have owned their (4:54) home for a significant amount of years.

They can already get that tax exemption, that 50%. (5:01) So that can relieve a little bit on that, well, a lot on that. And something that I think has been (5:08) a misunderstanding is people cannot get both.

You can’t take the 50% long-term homeowners exemption (5:15) as well as the Proposition 1 homeowners exemption. So that’s been a little bit confusing, (5:24) I think, for people, as well as a lot of people are surprised to hear that we’ve already instituted (5:31) a 25% for all homeowners to be able to receive that. And that’s yearly, you have to fill out the (5:39) form to be able to do that.

And we were kind of surprised that not as many people took advantage (5:45) of that as we expected. So that’s available there too. So it would be significant if people would (5:52) take advantage of it.

Let’s talk more on the other side of that, with it being on the special (5:57) tax district, senior centers, fire, EMS, you know, those special tax districts. It appears that the (6:04) impact is going to vary from district to district, depending on how many mills they have and how (6:08) many they claim and all, and various. But kind of generally speaking, what have you found in (6:16) your research and how it would impact if passed? Well, yeah.

Wyoming has 652 special districts. (6:26) They provide critical services that communities depend on every day. You know, there’s no doubt (6:32) about it.

We cannot go around these emergency services, especially fire, EMS. You know, (6:39) we’re struggling already in North Lincoln County with our EMS services. And there are things that (6:47) we have to have.

And if we take that away, that will be a very difficult way of providing those (6:56) services without this property tax that’s coming in. And bottom line, I mean, it’s going to be (7:04) hard to answer people when those services are not available. And they will.

I mean, I heard (7:09) an opponent or a proponent of this just say, I think it was on the radio this morning, (7:14) that they’re expecting in their fire an 8 to 10 percent cut, you know, and already operating as (7:21) a rural fire department on a very limited budget. And we’re seeing insurance rates increase if you (7:29) don’t have adequate fire protection, you know, home insurance. And so, you know, I think that (7:36) some people expect that we can’t have our cake and eat it too.

We’ve got to be able to fund these (7:44) services. And with rural communities, especially, they have fewer taxpayers. And so the impacts (7:52) are more significant on that, but definitely a big impact on that.

Representative McKay Erickson, (7:58) House District 21 discussing prop one with us this morning. So then, then representative, (8:03) you have those that are listening saying, Okay, well, my property taxes, though, have (8:08) more than doubled. I mean, we’ve seen 100% increase in some areas here on this western (8:13) side of the state.

So to think that 25% has been great, but it hasn’t even got me anywhere close (8:18) to where things should be affordable. And so what if this doesn’t pass, prop one doesn’t pass, (8:26) then what what’s in the works now from the state legislator to try and help and alleviate some of (8:32) this even further? Well, good, good point. That’s, that’s exactly how I respond in those situations (8:40) is, you know, that that’s clearly I mean, I’ve seen I’ve watched mine go up those 100% increases (8:47) and then plenty around me have seen those drastic increases again, back to one point that I made (8:54) earlier, the 25% is there for everyone.

And that’s just been in the last year that we’ve had (9:01) that in place. And it’s starting to take effect and people are seeing it. Yeah, that’s 25%.

But (9:07) also there’s significant increases in making sure that that for that our property taxes do not (9:15) increase more than 4% per year, I think that will start having a significant effect. And I think (9:22) that people just knowing what’s going on, we’re going to continue down the road of property tax (9:29) relief, especially in our county and other counties around us that have seen such significant (9:35) increases. You know, that Lincoln County itself gave a tax rebate this year and and continue to (9:45) look at doing that.

You know, if they have what they consider to be a especially high amount that (9:51) they’re collecting, they’re looking at giving that back in some form of tax relief, because it is (9:57) it’s popular with people. And of course, we’re going to say we want a property tax (10:06) decrease, you know, so help is on the way. It’s it’s it’s the state is constantly looking at that’s (10:14) always the biggest issue.

We’re wanting to make sure that it’s we have people that can stay here (10:21) can stay in their homes and can can provide a quality life for themselves and not be so burdened (10:29) by tax. So we’re that’s on the forefront of our mind is to if this does not pass, we you will see (10:37) some other measures coming from the state and continued effort into getting more people involved (10:43) in the measures that we’ve already provided. Representative McKay Erickson House District 21 (10:48) Representative, thanks for your time.

Anything we missed that you feel is worth mentioning here (10:51) today? Yeah, no, I I’ve always said, you know, in in conditions of not knowing the exactly the (11:02) impacts of some of this, because there is a lot of numbers thrown out there. But I’ve always kind (11:07) of held to the the idea that if you don’t know, vote no, you know, on on a proposition like this. (11:15) And I think there are a lot of questions and and and I kind of look at it as, you know, this didn’t (11:20) this this 50% proposition one didn’t have any backfill.

It I kind of look at it as a Hail Mary. (11:28) And, you know, kind of throw it up and hope for the best. And then back to my earlier point, (11:34) if we don’t know, vote no.

And that seems to be a lot of those individuals that are (11:41) considering that option, because of the lack of information and knowing (11:45) just how bad it’s going to hurt our special districts. (11:49) Representative McKay Erickson House District 21 this morning. All right, polls are open until (11:52) seven o’clock p.m. And of course, a lot of local city school board, state races and proposition one (12:00) on the ballot today until 7pm.

Representative, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it. (12:05) You bet.

Thanks for the information you’re getting out. It’s crucial. Appreciate it.

(12:09) Yeah, it’s all part of the weekday wake up this morning on SVI Radio.