Less mineral revenue means less Wyoming education funding

(AP) — Wyoming lawmakers likely will face tough choices in coming years over how to fund the state's K-12 educational system because of falling mineral revenue, legislative staffers warned Wednesday.

Don Richards, budget and fiscal manager for the state's Legislative Service Office, said the school system faces a shortfall of nearly $580 million from mid-2016 through mid-2020, even after spending some reserve funds.

The projections assume there will be no change in how the state chooses to fund its school system and that student enrollment continues to increase at 1 percent a year.

Rep. Steve Harshman, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said not counting transfers from reserve funds, the state's K-12 education budget including operations and construction faces anticipated shortfalls of roughly $320 million a year for 2017 and 2018, and about $200 million a year for 2019 and 2020.

In the coming 2017-2018 biennium, the state's account for school construction will receive an estimated $137 million in revenue, while spending is projected at more than $510 million, Richards told the committee.