Casper City Council Favors Keeping Sales Tax Exemption on Food
Casper City Council opposed the Wyoming Association of Municipalities' desire to remove the sales tax exemption on food, it said during a work session Tuesday.
The exemption was approved by the Legislature years ago, with opponents of the tax on food saying it was regressive and disproportionately hurt the poor.
Mayor Charlie Powell said WAM will meet next week and wants Wyoming cities and towns to consider resolutions it wants to proposed to the Legislature in 2020.
Powell said the association wants the exemption removed because it has resulted in a significant loss of revenue.
Most council members opposed removing the exemption.
Council member Chris Walsh said it was a matter of principle to keep the exemption.
But Bob Hopkins said the Legislature promised the cities that it would find a way to recover the revenues lost from food sales tax exemption. That never happened, Hopkins said.
He was the only council member to favor removing the exemption.