Wyoming Secretary of State asks legislature for $125,000 to publish 2026 property-tax ballot initiative, cites statutory duty

Chairmen and members of the Joint Appropriations Committee heard a detailed budget presentation from the Secretary of State’s office that included a $125,000 exception request to cover statutorily required publication costs for a certified 2026 property-tax initiative and multiple staffing and IT requests to handle rapid growth in business filings.

The Secretary said the office has generated “over $130,000,000” in revenue in the last biennium on a budget under $10 million and projected roughly $78.5 million in revenue for the current fiscal year. He described the publication request as a statutory obligation and explained the Legislative Service Office advised the office to include a known expense for publication as an exception request. "This is a required duty of the state, and I'm determined to make sure this is done properly," the Secretary said during his presentation.

The request is based on precedent and a per-line newspaper cost calculation used for constitutional amendments, according to Joe…