Wyoming House kills Sherwood’s proposal for abandoned buildings tax credit

House Bill 82, which would have established tax credits for property owners who address dangerous or derelict buildings, failed introduction. Sherwood said she’ll try again next year.

A bill aimed at incentivizing property owners to clean up or demolish abandoned buildings has died, failing to clear introduction on the third day of the Wyoming Legislature’s Budget Session.

House Bill 82 — sponsored by Albany County’s Rep. Trey Sherwood (HD-14) — would have set up a tax credit for property owners who shape up an ugly property. With prior city or town approval, the owner could have been reimbursed for up to half the price of demolition or up to the full price of renovation.

“Visualize your downtown and empty space that could be made of use and ready for a new business,” Sherwood urged her fellow lawmakers on the House floor today. “Our communities deserve the tools to address dangerous, neglected buildings and dishonest property owners. Plus, these incentives to redevelop existing buildings in town will protect the wide open spaces that we love.”

Sherwood’s bill failed on a 38-23 vote — just four votes short of what it needed to pass. The bill faced opposition from at least some who misrepresented what the legislation would actually do.

“It seems to me that this bill is motivating property owners to go ahead and turn their property over to the local government and the state,” said Gillette Rep. John Bear (HD-31).

That’s not what the bill does, as Sherwood explained in her appeal to the House.

“This bill provides a property tax credit for owners of buildings who revitalize them and make them ready for a new use,” she said. “It gives the city the ability and criteria to designate a property within city limits as abandoned or nuisance if it is vacant, neglected or deteriorating … It protects private property owners from having to relinquish or sell abandoned or nuisance buildings. This is not eminent domain.”

Wheatland Rep. Jeremy Haroldson (HD-4) also objected to the bill, citing concerns about government overreach.

“Is it the role of governments for us to try to help people out of a place of disarray?” he asked the House. “And I guess that's the question we have to ask … if we go there, where do we stop?”

Haroldson has brought a number of bills this session aimed at curtailing the government’s power when it comes to public safety.

He has sponsored a bill seeking to lower the minimum age for concealed carry, and another that would repeal gun free zones, including those at public schools. He has also brought a bill aimed at eliminating mandatory vaccinations for children and another “repealing the authority of the Wyoming department of health to adopt measures for vaccination to prevent or arrest the progress of smallpox.”

When a majority vote isn’t enough

Non-budget bills such as HB82 face a steep hurdle during budget sessions: they need to win a two-thirds vote to simply pass introduction.

That intentional chokepoint is meant to keep legislators focused on crafting the state’s two-year budget — but it also leads to a lot of dead bills and it means that plenty of bills can have majority support but still fail.

“While the bill failed introduction by four votes, I will work with my colleagues who understand the importance of small businesses and strong communities to bring the bill back during the 2025 General Session,” Sherwood told the Laramie Reporter shortly after the bill’s demise.

There is no two-thirds hurdle during a general session.