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Eastern Laramie County Solid Waste Disposal District v. State Board of Equalization8/1/2000
d in simplicity and directness. In construing a taxing or revenue statute, courts should attempt to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature, and that intention is to be gathered from a consideration of every word in the statute so as to make it harmonious and reasonable in its operation. State v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 823 P.2d 539, 541 (Wyo. 1992). As a general rule, tax exemptions are given a strict interpretation against an assertion of a taxpayer and in favor of the taxing power. 3A Sutherland Stat. Const. § 66.09, at 42 (5 th ed. 1992). However, the reasons for that rule do not apply in the instance of tax exemptions running to the benefit of the government itself or its agencies. Id. at 43. In such a case, the practical effect of an exemption is merely to reduce the amount of money that has to be handled by government in the course of its operations. Id. For these reasons, provisions granting exemptions to government agencies may be construed liberally in favor of such agencies. Id.
The statute in question announces a comprehensive purpose to exempt "government" from payment of sales taxes, including the state itself and its political subdivisions. There is no more fundamental political subdivision than that of the county. Solid waste disposal districts are created by elected boards of county commissioners, though the boards do assign the day-to-day management tasks to appointed governing boards for those districts. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 18-11-101, 102 (LEXIS 1999). We conclude that the exemption contemplated by § 39-15-105(a)(iv)(A) clearly includes solid waste disposal districts.
The Department contends that such a construction is flawed because § 39-15-105( a)(iv) specifically makes reference to irrigation districts and weed and pest control districts, but does not include solid waste disposal districts. With respect to irrigation districts, which were added to the exemption statute in 1997, it is clear that such districts are not a creature of the county and, hence, likely not a part of "government" or a "political subdivision," even under a liberal construction of the exemption statute. Irrigation districts are statutorily authorized associations of private landowners designed to facilitate improvement of the existing water supply for the lands covered by such a district. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 41-7-201 - 210 (LEXIS 1999); 1997 Wyo. Sess. Laws Ch. 54, § 1. Weed and pest control districts were added to the statute in 1998. 1998 Wyo. Sess. Laws Ch. 43, § 1. Weed and pest districts are also creatures of counties and their addition to the exemption statute is a redundancy in that they are also political subdivisions in light of the construction we have adopted. See Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 11-5-104 (LEXIS 1999). Our research does indicate that a 1976 Opinion of the Attorney General determined that sales transactions of weed and pest districts were not exempt on the basis that they were political subdivisions because political subdivisions fell within the meaning of the word person subject to tax under the statutes relevant at that time. Op. Wyo. Att'y. Gen. 76-01 (1976). This is likely the source of that amendment to the exemption statute, but in any event it is our conclusion that weed and pest districts would also qualify for an exemption as a political subdivision of government.
The Department also maintains that a determination that a solid waste disposal district is a political subdivision under the exemption statute is foreclosed because a bill to add solid waste disposal districts to the exemption statute, offered in the 1999 Legislature, failed passage. The amendment introduced in 1999 would have provided enhanced clarity, but its failure of passage does not
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