A Wyoming State Representative wants part-time residents to use their vacation homes or pay a fee. Mike Yin, who represents House District 16 in Teton County, says he will propose a bill to charge property owners who spend less than six months a year at their residence.

"These homes are being purchased with the intention to not be a full-time residence. The negative costs are borne by the neighbors around them,” Yin told Buckrail. "The houses create really high purchase prices, which increase property taxes."

Yin claims the mitigation fee would be similar to fees imposed on electric vehicles in the state which are used to offset lost revenue from the fuel taxes. Because fuel taxes are used to maintain roads and highways, drivers of electric cars pay a small surcharge.

Money from the vacation home fees could be allocated to Wyoming's property tax refund program which subsidizes low-income residents who can't afford to pay property taxes when home values rise, according to Yin.

A potential second-home fee could affect several of Wyoming's most famous part-time residents, including Sandra Bullock, Tyler Perry, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and several other celebrities who own vacation property in the Cowboy State but don't live here year-round.

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