The total valuation of Park County property is up nearly $20 million over last year, which means a bit more money for many local entities that receive it, from the county to cities to hospitals and fire districts, although it’s still less than in the days soon after Covid when valuations soared over $1 billion. 

Since then, valuations have fallen somewhat and more state residents are receiving a variety of property tax relief programs which can reduce taxes as much as 50% in some cases. 

As Park County Assessor Terry Call wrote in explaining the situation with property taxes since 2020, “The property tax system did exactly what a market-value system is designed to do: As market values changed, taxable values followed. The system worked as designed, but for many taxpayers the result became increasingly difficult to absorb.

“Higher property values led to higher property taxes, and higher property taxes led to a demand for reform.”

That reform has included a 4% cap on the increase in property taxes year-to-year, a 25% cut for residents for the first $1 million of property, and a 50% cut for long term homeowners, all of which have made property tax bills a bit smaller for most residents in the last couple years.

Mill levies

Commissioners in August approved mill levies for the current fiscal year with a total county valuation of $870,332,689, up from roughly $851 million last year. 

While the county can decide to receive less than its allowed 12 mills — during the hike in valuations following Covid there was some discussion about doing so when the county valuation was over $1 billion — commissioners cannot alter requests from other districts. 

Park County School District 1 receives 26.5 mills — including half a mill for the Board of Cooperative Education in cooperation with Northwest College — and this year that amounted to $7.034 million.

Park County School District 6’s 26 mills garnered $12.73 million. 

With 5 mills, the City of Powell received $341,861, the City of Cody $1.012 million, the Town of Meeteetse $15,543 and Frannie (which also receives property tax funds from Big Horn County) $1,144. 

While the county, municipalities and school district also receive large amounts of funding from other sources, special districts rely largely on the property tax mill levy, including fire departments, all of which in Park County opt to receive the full t3 mills allowed. 

Park County Fire District 1 in Powell received $697,148, Cody’s district $1.499 million and Meeteetse’s $310,890. The Clark district received $60,994. 

Park County Weed and Pest receives just 1 mill but, because it’s assessed over the whole county, still receives a substantial sum; this year it's $870,323. 

The county’s two hospital districts are the lone exception in only getting a small portion of total funding from the mill levies, although in Powell’s case the organization is split into two boards, with the hospital district receiving and using mill levy funds for capital improvements. This year that amounts to $732,993 for its 3 mills, while the Cody district, taking just under 3 mills, collected $1.76 million. 

Cemetery districts and a museum and conservation district in Meeteetse make up the rest of the mills. Crown Hill Cemetery District in Powell received just over $500,000 utilizing just over 2 mills, as compared to Riverside Cemetery District in Cody, which with 2.5 mills received more than $1 million.