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HB0262 • 2025

Counties-limitations on holding reserves.

AN ACT relating to counties; establishing a limit on the amount of reserves that counties may maintain; providing for the calculation of reserve amounts; requiring the refund of reserves in excess of the limitation amount as specified; providing definitions; requiring reporting; and providing for an effective date.

Elections Taxes
Inactive

Wyoming marks this bill as inactive, which usually means it is no longer moving in the current session.

Sponsor
Representative Johnson
Last action
2025-03-03
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2025

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not provide details on what happens if a county fails to comply beyond withholding payments.

Limiting County Reserves

This act sets limits on how much money counties in Wyoming can keep in reserve and requires them to report their reserves annually.

What This Bill Does

  • Establishes a limit on the amount of reserves that counties may maintain, based on their average spending over the past five fiscal years excluding specific purpose taxes.
  • Requires counties to calculate and estimate excess funds annually and report these amounts to the state's Department of Revenue.
  • Requires counties with excess funds to refund those funds to residents who have lived in the county for at least one year.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Counties in Wyoming
  • Residents of Wyoming counties

Terms To Know

Annual spending amount
The average total expenditures for a county over the past five fiscal years, excluding amounts collected through any specific purpose tax that is approved by the voters of the county.
Excess funds
Funds held by a county in excess of its annual spending amount.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This bill is inactive and was not passed during the current session.
  • The act does not specify what happens if counties do not comply with refunding requirements beyond withholding payments from the state treasurer.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-03 House

    H:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to HR 5-4

  2. 2025-02-07 House

    H No report prior to CoW Cutoff

  3. 2025-01-22 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H07 - Corporations

  4. 2025-01-21 House

    H Received for Introduction

  5. 2025-01-20 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
25LSO-0419
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0419
Introduced
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0262

Counties-limitations on holding reserves.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Johnson, Andrew, Brown, G, Campbell, K, Lucas, Singh, Strock, Styvar and Wasserburger and Senator(s) McKeown, Pearson and Smith, D

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to counties; establishing a limit on the amount of reserves that counties may maintain; providing for the calculation of reserve amounts; requiring the refund of reserves in excess of the limitation amount as specified; providing definitions; requiring reporting; and providing for an effective date.

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

Section 1
.

W.S. 18
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4
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109 is created to read:

18
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4
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109.

County reserves; limitations; refund of excess reserves.

(a)

As used in this section:

(i)

"Annual spending amount" means the average amount of total expenditures for the county in each of the immediately preceding five (5) fiscal years, excluding amounts collected through any specific purpose tax that is approved by the voters of the county;

(ii)

"Excess funds" means any funds held by the county in excess of the annual spending amount.

(b)

Beginning July 1, 2025, no county shall hold excess funds that exceed the county's annual spending amount.

(c)

Not later than July 1, 2025 and each July 1 thereafter, each county shall:

(i)

Calculate the county's annual spending amount and estimate whether any excess funds will be available at the end of the fiscal year;

(ii)

Report to the department of revenue on the amount calculated under paragraph (i) of this subsection and the estimate of excess funds that will be available at the end of the fiscal year.

(d)

Each county with excess funds on July 1, 2025 and each July 1 thereafter shall:

(i)

Report the amount of excess funds to the department of revenue and the board of county commissioners;

(ii)

Provide notice to residents in accordance with subsection (e) of this section;

(iii)

Refund the excess funds to residents of the county in accordance with subsection (f) of this section.

(e)

Not later than July 15, 2025 and each July 15 thereafter, each county with excess funds shall provide notice to persons entitled to receive a refund under this section.

(f)

Not later than August 15, 2025 and each August 15 thereafter, each county shall refund or provide for the refund of excess funds to owners of record of property in the county who have been residents of the county for not less than one (1) year preceding the refund. For purposes of this subsection, residency shall be determined in accordance with the rules provided by W.S. 23
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1
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107. Excess funds shall be refunded on a pro rata basis.

(g)

For each county that does not refund excess funds in accordance with this section by the date specified in subsection (f) of this section, the state treasurer shall withhold from any payment due to a county under W.S. 39
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15
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111(b) and 39
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16
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111(b) an amount equal to two (2) times the amount of excess funds that the county had on July 1 of the applicable year. The withheld amount shall be:

(i)

Deposited and held in the legislative stabilization reserve account until the date specified in paragraph (ii) of this section;

(ii)

Transferred from the legislative stabilization reserve account to the county upon the county certifying to the state treasurer and the department of revenue that the county has refunded the excess funds in accordance with this section.

Section 2
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

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HB0262