Proposition 1, the measure to exempt 50% of the value of primary residential homes from property taxes and thereby giving homeowners more relief from the recent years of quickly rising rates, fell harder than expected yesterday. 

I, a little surprisingly, contributed one small vote to that number — although Park County looks to have been one of the few counties where more voters were for rather than against the measure. (Undervotes still led to it not passing in Park County.)

It was the toughest decision I made at the polls, the one decision I hadn’t yet made my mind up about when I first stepped into the ballot box at the  Mountain View Clubhouse. 

For months, I’ve been wavering on Prop 1, which on one hand I have seen as more needed property tax relief and a way to further whittle down a tax I believe at its core is unfair. As I’ve said before, it’s a tax that turns something you may own outright into something you can still lose for nonpayment. 

On the other hand, though, I’ve also seen this measure as too simplistic, a mallet when a chisel would be better to whittle away at property taxes while still providing needed revenue to local organizations. 

And that, in the end, swayed me over to voting no despite my distaste of property taxes. Because, as the state budget is currently set up, property taxes are crucial for our local boards, especially fire districts, conservation districts and the like. Yes, K-12 schools would be taken care of regardless as per state statute, but from the colleges to cemetery boards it would result in substantial revenue losses on top of previous reductions due to property tax relief measures, such as the previous 25% cut, the long-term homeowners exemption and the 4% cap in rate hikes each year. 

Again, I’m in favor of an end to property taxes, but I believe as Casper Rep. Steve Harshman (just elected state superintendent) previously championed: A bill to eliminate property tax and replace it with a hike in sales tax. 

So, I hope our state legislators see the defeat of Proposition 1 not as evidence that they can forget about further property tax changes, but simply that they need to fine tune future relief measures.