Committee approves property-tax exemption for parents of Gold Star service members

The Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs Committee unanimously approved Senate File 102, which would extend an existing property-tax exemption to the surviving parents of service members who died in combat when the service member left no surviving spouse. Sponsor Senator Landon said the bill responds to constituent requests and is intended to “allow for a property tax exemption for the parents of a Gold Star” if no spouse exists.

Senator Landon described Gold Star families as those who have lost a family member in combat and said the state has about 39 such families. The bill raises and conforms existing statutory language in Title 39 (taxation) and provides a modest fiscal impact: the fiscal estimate prepared for the committee used 39 families to calculate a limited cost to state and local budgets.

Tim Sheppard of the Wyoming Veterans Commission testified that the commission unanimously supports the bill. Ken Gill, administrator of the Department of Revenue Property Tax Division, described how his office tracks veteran exemptions for county assessors and raised a practical question about whether the exemption should apply if a surviving spouse leaves the state; the sponsor said the bill’s intent is to cover the parents where there is no surviving spouse.

Committee members clarified that if parents live in different counties they could receive separate exemptions in each county under the bill’s current drafting. Senators adopted a technical amendment to fix drafting and then voted to advance the measure. Senator Kolb agreed to carry the bill on the Senate floor.