TORRINGTON – The Torrington Rotary Club gathered on Monday afternoon for their weekly luncheon meeting. Michele Ogburn, club president, called the meeting to order with the traditional Pledge of Allegiance, Rotarian Four-way Test and other formalities. 

During the announcements, Ogburn mentioned there would be no meeting for October 14 and Rotarians celebrated a reason to be happy as they made donations for Rotarian efforts.

After a quick name of Guess the Rotarian, Ogburn moved on to telling the club another Rotary Club fact for World Understanding Month which normally takes place in February. 

“I thought about putting this one off until the month, but then if I do I lose my place in the 50 did you know facts so, you are getting it this month instead of the month of February,” Ogburn said. “The month of February is very special in the Rotary calendar since it is designated World Understanding Month. The month also includes the anniversary of the first meeting of Rotary held on February 23, 1905, now designated World Understanding and Peace Day.”

Moving on to old business and new business, there was nothing to present. 

Ogburn next introduced important guests for the Rotary meeting, the Rotary Rising Stars. The rising star program was developed to recognized area high school youth from each school in the district.

 “Welcome to the Rotary Rising Stars Program,” Ogburn said to the handful of students in the audience. “We are thrilled to have you with us today. The rising star program is designed to provide encouragement and support as you navigated your high school journey. As Rotarians, we hold various roles within the community. We are here to assist you in many different ways.”

Ogburn explained to the students the Rotary members would provide mentorship during the remainder of their high school careers. The club also contributed to each student.

“Additionally, we are offering each of you $500 upon your high school graduation. We hope this financial support will assist you as you prepare for the next chapter of your life, whether that means college, trade school or purchasing essentials for your chosen career,” Ogburn said. 

The Rotary Club recognized the following students from Torrington High School, Keegan Black, Aubury Esparza, Evvi McCreery; the following students from Lingle-Ft. Laramie High School, Gabriel Bocanegra, Kaiten Schilreff and Emilia Lopez-Bills; the following students from Southeast High School, Abby Gift, Sophia Domina, Katlynn Read and the following students from Platte River High School; Bianca Hernandez, Nathan Miller and Anthony Calderon. 

Guest speaker, Goshen County Assessor, Debbie Surratt, came to speak to the Rotarians about property taxes. Surratt, who has spent the last 35 years as the county assessor began her presentation with a brief history lesson on taxes. 

“I was asked to speak to you about the recent legislative changes where property tax exemptions are concerned, and how those changes will affect you and the budgeting entities in Goshen County moving forward,” Surratt said. “So, I will start with a little bit of history where property tax is concerned.”

“When the Wyoming’s Founding Fathers gathered in 1889 to create the constitution for the statehood of Wyoming,” Surratt began. “The vision for statehood was incredibly optimistic. Citing our unmatched agriculture and mineral wealth, and the incredible quality of the citizenry, the Constitutional Convention adopted a document characterized as both ‘conservative and progressive.’”

Surratt explained over the years, legislature created as many as 27 different kinds of special purposes therefore budging entitles that fell under “services” umbrella which property tax was earmarked to fund. 

“Allowing these ‘special districts’ the ability to become their own taxing authority to provide additional necessary services to Wyoming’s population,” Surratt explained. “With this creation the mill levy rates would increase to provide funding for the services being offered, by allowing these entities to dop into the property tax pool.” 

According to Surratt, this meant the taxpayers were willing to pay more taxes to receive the benefits of those services. 

“Fast forward to 2024, there is a growing concern about rising tax payments for residential property due to the rapid increase in residential property values in the State. Goshen County’s average residential home value is $240,000, taxes would be $1655 annually and we have an effective tax rate of .69% on residential properties,” Surratt said. “Even with the increases we have seen due to higher market values - Wyoming is the 10th lowest residential property tax nation-wide.”

According to Surratt, Goshen County has historically seen about 3 to 5% increase in property values for years but recently it has been 8 to 15% larger. 

“These increases are driven solely by market value, which is defined as ‘what a property will sell for between a willing buyer and willing seller.’ Some Wyoming counties have seen as much as 30-40% increases each year in the past four years, so it is understandable why Wyoming taxpayers are concerned and why they are raising their concerns.”

Surratt spoke on HB0045, which Surratt explained is a 4% cap on all residential structures and the land they sit on, limiting the amount of increase which could be applied unless there have been changes made to the property.

“There is some speculation that this bill is not even constitutional, however, it has not yet been challenged,” Surratt said. 

Surratt then spoke on the long-term homeowner’s exemption or HB0003.

“This bill has the potential to cut into the budgeting entity coffers as none of this exemption will be backfilled by the state,” Surratt explained. “Goshen County has a pretty robust senior population that could potentially qualify for this exemption. I am anticipating we could have approximately 1,500 property owners take advantage of this exemption. I am projecting that Goshen County will be looking at a potential decrease in taxable assessed value being around 10.6 million.”

Surratt noted 10.6 would be approximately $770,000 less for budgeting entity coffers which would be approximately 5-6% reduction in all services related budgets county wide.  

HB0004, known as the property tax refund program, is a partial refund for residential property taxes paid the prior year.

“This one is geared to helping those lower income or fixed income folks in the community,” Surratt said. “You can acquire the exemption form online through the [Wyoming] Department of Revenue or stop by my office and we can get you one. This is not a new exemption and is fully funded by the State of Wyoming.”

“Lastly senate joint resolution three, which is the proposed constitutional amendment, which will be on the ballot this November,” Surratt said. “This proposal is asking Wyoming voters if they would like to see a further separation of property sub class for residential property, with the idea that the rising residential property values could be separated and assessed at a different assessment rate than other properties in the state of Wyoming, therefore giving the legislature the ability to make adjustments to the residential property level of assessment.”

Surratt noted she would be happy to answer questions on any of the programs and welcomed residents to stop by her office. 

Ogburn announced once more, there would be no meeting on October 14 and the meeting was then adjourned.