• Community colleges have already lost $13 million in funding due to Wyoming’s property tax cuts and programs. Further reducing property taxes will create an additional $4 million annual deficit. 
• There is no plan in place to account for or counter this deficit and the ongoing annual loss. 
• Without stable funding, colleges face program cuts, reduced capacity, and diminished ability to meet employer demand.

• Wyoming’s community colleges are the backbone of the state’s workforce pipeline, economic diversification strategy, and local opportunity engine.
• Community colleges are uniquely positioned to deliver rapid, cost-effective solutions to workforce gaps, educational inequities, and regional economic development.
• Funding Wyoming’s community colleges is the way to unlock the most value for educating, employing, and empowering individuals while strengthening Wyoming’s economic backbone.

• Without sustainable funding, colleges cannot operate effectively year after year. A predictable financial structure is necessary to allow each institution to deliver high-quality education, meet workforce needs, and plan responsibly for the future.

• Revenue instability directly affects staffing, class availability, and workforce training capacity.

• Facilities, labs, and technology infrastructure require ongoing investment.

• Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs—welding, nursing, diesel tech, electrical, allied health—are significantly more expensive to deliver than many other academic programs. Without funding, colleges are unable to offer the very programs Wyoming employers are asking for.

Download the What Sustainable Funding Really Means resource.

• Property taxes are used to fund and run services in every Wyoming community. Without this funding, services will cease or diminish.
  • Schools: Around 69% of property taxes go to K-12 schools.
  • Counties: Around 17% of property taxes fund services such as road and bridge maintenance, the sheriff’s office, and others.
  • Special Districts: Around 8% of property taxes fund rural fire departments and hospitals, senior care centers, solid waste districts, soil conservation, weed and pest control, and others.
  • Cities & Towns: Around 2% of property taxes fund local services like water and sewer, cemeteries, and museums.
• If your community has one of Wyoming’s eight community colleges, you are further impacted. The colleges receive around 4% of property taxes. Without this, funding for operations including staffing, building maintenance, classroom materials, etc., becomes unstable and directly affects the college programs.
  • Layoffs will lead people to leave the town and the state, further exacerbating the spiral to dying communities.
    • A shrinking population creates less demand for local goods and services, causing businesses to leave the area, ultimately further decreasing the tax base.
      • A shallow tax base leads to less funding for communities and for colleges, creating deeper cuts and further decline.

• In FY 2022-2023, community colleges added $1.1 billion to the state economy. That’s 2.4% of the total Gross State Product.
  • They also supported 16,158 jobs, which is 1 in every 28 jobs in Wyoming.
• Community colleges are a hub of enrichment for their communities, providing continuing education opportunities, cultural events, and partnerships with local schools.
  • Community colleges are a bridge into their local communities.
• The vitality of our state is in direct correlation with the vitality of our community colleges.

Download the Impact to Colleges resource.