Property Taxes
Explained with County Assessor
Steve Esponda.
June 20 2023

Property taxes have increased over 30% or more each year for the past two years and people are feeling the pinch.   Furthermore, the Wyoming Legislature has failed to provide significant property tax reform to ease the burden leaving people angry or anxious and asking questions not only about their individual bills but also about how the monies raised are spent on county services.   

Johnson County Assessor Steve Esponda has answered more questions than ever from anxious property taxpayers about their bills.   We caught up with Steve and asked him to explain the basics and address the most common questions he is asked about property taxes.

Find out more about what’s driven the increases and what comes next. 

Explainer: 
Property tax assessment is a process by which local government determines the value of a property for taxation purposes. The assessment is used to calculate the amount of property tax that the property owner is required to pay. 

This process involves property valuation and determining an assessment ratio.  This is a percentage of the property’s appraised value that will be subject to taxation. For example, if the assessed value of a property is $100,000 and the assessment ratio is 80%, the taxable value would be $80,000.

The millage rate, also known as the tax rate or mill rate, is the rate at which property taxes are calculated. It represents the amount of tax per thousand dollars of assessed value. For instance, if the millage rate is 10 mills, a property with an assessed value of $80,000 would have a tax liability of $800 (80,000 / 1,000 * 10).