Wyoming Taxes Major Industry, State and Biz Roll Along

Former patrolman turned Wyoming restaurant magnate Mark O'Loughlen sends me a PDF copy of a 2003 Wyoming property tax guide. I note with interest (and perhaps loyal reader and prospective Wyoming land baron Mr. Gibilisco can add some perspective) that historically, Wyoming has drawn half of its property tax revenue from assessed value of mineral production. Funny: I thought the conservative argument was that taxes kill big business... yet Wyoming's mineral production industry keeps rolling right along, as do Wyoming's teacher salaries ($5K more for starting pay, $8.5K more for average pay than in South Dakota).