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HB0191 • 2021

Statewide mill levy for education.

AN ACT relating to school funding; establishing the school foundation program permanent account; specifying distribution of earnings from the account; imposing a mill levy to provide funds to the account; providing a sales and use tax credit for specified taxpayers; and providing for an effective date.

Budget Education Land Taxes
Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor
Representative Brown
Last action
2021-03-08
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2021

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Statewide Mill Levy for Education

The bill establishes a permanent account to fund public schools and imposes a tax on property (except mineral properties) to support this account.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates the school foundation program permanent account, which is meant to be used only for funding public education.
  • Specifies that earnings from investments in the account will go back into the account if it has less than $2 billion. If it has more, the earnings will support the school foundation program.
  • Imposes a tax of 4 mills on property (except mineral properties) to fund the permanent account for public schools.
  • Provides a sales and use tax credit for taxpayers who are mineral producers.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Public elementary and secondary schools in Wyoming
  • Property owners in Wyoming, except those with mineral properties
  • Mineral producers in Wyoming

Terms To Know

Mill levy
A tax rate measured by the mill, which is one-thousandth of a dollar.
Permanent trust account
An account that cannot be used for anything other than its intended purpose and whose funds are protected from legislative appropriation.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill did not pass in the session.
  • It is unclear how much money will actually go into the permanent trust account or how it will affect school funding.

Bill History

  1. 2021-03-08 House

    H Did Not Consider for Introduction

  2. 2021-03-08 House

    H Did not Consider for Introduction

  3. 2021-03-04 House

    H Received for Introduction

  4. 2021-03-02 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
21LSO-0025
2021
STATE OF WYOMING
21LSO-0025
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0191

Statewide mill levy for education.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Brown

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to school funding; establishing the school foundation program permanent account; specifying distribution of earnings from the account; imposing a mill levy to provide funds to the account; providing a sales and use tax credit for specified taxpayers; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 21
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13
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306.2 is created to read:

21
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13
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306.2.

School foundation program permanent account; purposes; levy of state tax.

(a)

The school foundation program permanent account is hereby created. Funds within the corpus of the account are intended to be inviolate and constitute a permanent trust account that shall not be expended by legislative appropriation. All funds within the account shall be invested by the state treasurer and all investment earnings from the account shall be distributed as follows:

(i)

If the balance in the corpus of the account is less than two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000.00), all earnings shall be distributed to the corpus of the account;

(ii)

If the balance in the corpus of the account is two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000.00) or more, all earnings shall be distributed to the school foundation program account created under W.S. 21
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13
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306.

(b)

For the support of the public elementary and secondary schools of the state, except as provided in W.S. 39-13-104(a)(v) there shall be assessed and levied each year a state tax of four (4) mills on the dollar of the
assessed valuation of the property within the state for the industrial property class and the all other property class as certified on August 10 under W.S. 39
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11
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102.1(c)(v). The tax under this section shall not apply to the gross product of minerals and mine products property class. The tax is in addition to any and all other taxes authorized by law.

Section 2.

W.S. 39
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13
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104(a) by creating a new paragraph (v) and 39
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15
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109(d) by creating a new paragraph (v) are amended to read:

39
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13
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104.

Taxation rate.

(a)

Authorized mill levies. There shall be annually levied and assessed upon the taxable value of property within Wyoming the following state taxes when applicable:

(v)

Four (4) mills for school purposes as certified by the board as provided by W.S. 21
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13
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306.2 to be credited to the school foundation program permanent account. The mills under this paragraph shall be assessed for the industrial property class and the all other
property class. The mills under this paragraph shall not be assessed in any year when the balance in the corpus of the school foundation program permanent account is two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000.00) or more on December 31 of the preceding calendar year.

39
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15
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109.

Taxpayer remedies.

(d)

Credits.

The following shall apply:

(v)

Any tax paid under W.S. 39
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13
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104(a)(v) by a taxpayer who is a mineral producer shall be credited against any subsequent tax liability of the taxpayer under this chapter or chapter 16 of this title within the next two (2) years following payment of the tax under W.S. 39
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13
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104(a)(v).

Section 3
.

This act is effective January 1, 2022
.

(END)

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HB0191