Mayor Marian Orr, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, owes a significant amount of money in back taxes and has for the last seven years. According to a Notice of a Federal Tax Lien, since 2012 Mayor Orr has racked up a debt with the IRS to the tune of almost $200,000 and has a lien on her home in Cheyenne.

While speaking publicly during her time in office, Mayor Orr has said operating within the financial means of the City of Cheyenne is important for stability. Wyoming News Now reached out to Mayor Orr about her unpaid taxes and how that squares with her public rhetoric. She declined an interview and instead sent an emailed statement that says, “This is a private matter between myself, the IRS and the tax experts I have engaged with to resolve this matter.”

According to tax professionals, when folks do not pay taxes, the IRS initiates a series of steps to recover the money owed. The IRS will start by sending you letters, then certified mail, then agents are sent to your home.

“If you are trying to dodge the agents and don’t respond to any of them, that’s when it gets a lot more serious because of course their job is to collect the tax dollars and they do have several means of being able to seize property and bank accounts and things especially if they feel like they are being ignored,” said Jolene Arends, Owner of Wild West Professional Tax Service.

Wyoming News Now looked into the backgrounds of all of Cheyenne’s City Councilmen and the previous mayor, Rick Kaysen, and did not find any current criminal filings, liens, or bankruptcies in our investigation.