The State Board of Equalization is a full-time constitutional and professional board of three Wyoming citizens appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Article 15, §9 of the Wyoming Constitution established the State Board of Equalization. Under Article 15, §10 of the Constitution, the Board’s duties are to equalize valuation on all property in Wyoming’s counties, and to perform other duties prescribed by law. The general duties and authorities of the Board are established under Wyoming Statutes Annotated, §39-11-102.1.

In practice, the majority of the Board’s time is devoted to hearing disputes between taxpayers and the Department of Revenue, and reviewing appeals from decisions of county boards of equalization that adjudicate a dispute between a taxpayer and a county assessor. In all cases, the Board issues written decisions subject to the standards of the Wyoming Administrative Procedures Act.

The Board discharges its duty to equalize valuation of property in Wyoming counties through an annual process. The Board reviews abstracts of property valuations (generally based on confidential sales information) submitted by the county assessor in each county, and evaluates those abstracts for uniformity by employing recognized principles of statistics.

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Board Members

Chairman

Alan B. Minier was appointed to the Board by Governor Freudenthal in March, 2003. His term expires March 1, 2009. Al was engaged in private law practice in Cheyenne for twenty-two years, emphasizing civil litigation and administrative law. He is admitted to practice in all state courts in Wyoming, the Federal Court in Wyoming, and the Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals. Al moved to Wyoming in 1978 to work on the staff of Governor Ed Herschler. He graduated from Yale in 1970 and Harvard Law School in 1973.

Vice Chairman

Thomas R. Satterfield was appointed to the Board by Governor Freudenthal in April, 2003. His term expires March 1, 2007. Tom is a graduate of the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He worked for the USDA Soil Conservation Service and the USDI Bureau of Reclamation for twenty six years as an agricultural engineer and design engineer. He was elected Fremont County Commissioner in l986 and served for sixteen years. He is past president of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, Local Government Liability Program and Fremont County Association of Governments.

Board Member

Thomas D. Roberts was appointed to the Board by Governor Freudenthal in September, 2004. His term expires March 1, 2011. Tom was general counsel to the Board of Equalization from 1987-96. He served as Laramie County Attorney from 1996-98, and joined the U.S. Attorneys Office in 1998. As an attorney, Tom represented the State Board in state and federal courts. He focused in private practice on the areas of real and personal property tax, mineral ownership analysis, banking and lending, and various forms of civil litigation. Tom earned a bachelors degree in economics from Colorado State University in 1971, and a law degree from the University of Wyoming in 1976.

Staff

Executive Secretary

Wendy J. Soto is the Executive Secretary to the Board. Ms. Soto is responsible for the administration of all dockets. She manages, plans and supervises the maintenance and operations of the Board’s record systems. This requires management of pleadings, hearing schedules including discovery, motions and contested cases; the development, maintenance and utilization of the docket information database systems; and certification of docket records in the event of an appeal of a Board decision. Ms. Soto is the custodian of records for the Board. This requires ensuring access to public records and information, managing all general and administrative agency records, including historical archives. She manages agency rulemaking procedures for compliance with the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act. Further, she is the agency liaison for public, governmental and industry inquiries regarding agency processes and procedures and other general information.

Staff Attorney

Gayle Richard Stewart, a Wyoming native, joined the Board as its Staff Attorney in June of 1999. Mr. Stewart's prior legal experience includes government service with the Sweetwater County & Prosecuting Attorney's office as a prosecutor and the county's civil attorney, and with the Wyoming Supreme Court as Assistant Court Coordinator and Justice John J. Rooney's law clerk. He was in private practice in Rock Springs, Wyoming prior to joining the Board. He earned his J.D. (1979) and B.S. with Honor (1976) from the University of Wyoming.

Principal Statistician

L.A. Romsa joined the Board staff in June of 1995. He graduated from The University of Wyoming in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in finance. L.A. was the Senior Appraiser for the Albany County Assessor's office from 1990 to 1995.

Executive Assistant

Jana R. Fitzgerald joined the Board staff in April of 2002. She graduated from Laramie County Community College in 1997 with a degree in Business Management. Jana has worked for the State of Wyoming since January of 1998. She is responsible for performing numerous fiscal, personnel and administrative duties for the Board and staff. She also assists the Executive Secretary with various docket management tasks.

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