Committee advances bill exempting 100% VA‑disabled veterans’ homes from property tax

Vice chair Steibler asked the Revenue Committee to approve House Bill 68, a veterans’ property‑tax exemption that would exempt the primary residence of veterans certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as “100% permanent and total” from property tax, including associated improved land, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Steibler said the measure follows existing practice for other exemptions and would allow the exemption to follow a surviving spouse as long as the spouse continues to own the property and does not remarry.

Tim Shepherd, executive director of the Wyoming Veterans Commission, told the committee the bill "does not expand eligibility. It does not create a new entitlement," and said roughly "4,000" veterans statewide meet the 100% permanent and total threshold Shepherd described. Shepherd urged the panel to view the proposal as targeted to veterans with the most severe service‑connected impairments.

County assessors raised administrative questions about verification and wording. Dixie Huxtable, Converse County assessor, warned that some veterans’ VA ratings can vary year‑to‑year and asked how assessors should verify permanent 100% status. The Laramie County assessor said offices historically rely on VA letters or service dates and that rules could govern required documentation. Ken Gill, property tax division administrator for the Department of Revenue, said he did not anticipate language that would prevent promulgation of rules and agreed that replacing a numeric acre cap with "associated improved land" would align the bill with existing exemptions.

Committee members debated language that currently uses "or" in the statutory description of disability and accepted a friendly amendment to remove the ambiguous phrasing and make the targeted category (100% permanent and total) explicit so it matches the VA documentation. Representative Campbell seconded the amendment; the committee voted the amendment and then passed House Bill 68 as amended. Chairman Locke announced the roll call showed "9 ayes."

The bill as amended would be effective for tax year 2027. The committee and witnesses emphasized that the Department of Revenue and assessors would draft implementing rules to clarify documentation and to align the acreage calculation with other exemptions. No public commenters opposed the measure during the committee hearing.

The committee approved the bill as amended and sent it forward from the Revenue Committee for consideration by the full House.