Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Data Confidentiality topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Department and board outline limits on releasing statements of consideration and state-assessment data
Summary
Department officials told the committee that statements of consideration (SOCs) and certain state-assessment materials are confidential under statute; staff described who may receive the information and the notification requirements for providing it to other government entities.
Rep. Lean asked whether the department could pull obsolescence reports for state-assessed property and supply them to the committee. Matt Sachet, interim director of the Wyoming Department of Revenue, told the committee that confidentiality rules apply to statements of consideration and to many pieces of state-assessment work: "The confidentiality statutes are in each chapter depending on if we're talking sales use with minerals or property. But for property taxes, they're located in 39 dash 13 1 0 2 q. And it specifically identifies who can be given data. It's quite limited," Sachet said.
Sachet said the statute permits disclosure to certain state entities (Department of Revenue, Department of Audit, governor's staff and the Craig Group) and allows other government entities to receive the information if they show a need, but "it does require us to notify each and every taxpayer that their information is being provided." He told the committee that if they only needed an aggregated total (for example, a combined dollar total of taxes not collected due to obsolescence) the department could provide that without individual notification.
Why it matters: Statements of consideration accompany deeds and contain transaction detail assessors use in sales analysis; county clerks historically collect SOCs at recording. Committee members had previously asked whether the department could extract obsolescence or functional-obsolescence reports from CAMA; department staff answered that state appraisers do not build those reports in CAMA and some obsolescence-related assessment materials are treated as confidential.
The Board of Equalization members present (Chair Jane Mokler and Vice Chair Marty Hartzog) described the clerk's role as the gatekeeper for SOCs under the real-estate recording statutes (title 34): clerks receive transfer documents and SOCs at recording and assessors then obtain the documents for valuation. Mokler said changes made in 2020 required clearer contact information on SOCs so assessors can follow up with purchasers when SOCs are incomplete.
Representative Lien made a formal request that the department provide the committee with obsolescence-related reports and for the department to begin required notification if those reports include confidential company-level data; Director Sachet agreed to pursue the request and to identify whether aggregated figures could be supplied without individual notifications.
Ending: Department staff said they will identify the precise statutory citations for confidentiality, determine what aggregated obsolescence data can be provided without notifying each taxpayer, and follow up with the committee.
