Community college trustees offer ideas to fund schools

Community college trustees offer ideas to fund schools
 
By Katie Roenigk
Riverton Ranger
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
RIVERTON — Community college trustees in Wyoming have a few ideas for lawmakers looking to balance the state’s budget this year. 
The seven recommendations are part of a pending resolution “in support of action to sustain funding for Wyoming’s community colleges.” 
The Wyoming Association of Community College Trustees presented a draft of the resolution to the Central Wyoming College Board of Trustees this month for review. 
WACCT’S recommendations for revenue generation include a new 1 percent sales tax that could be issued to support the state’s education system – including community colleges. 
The state also could enact “reasonable increases to existing tax rates” to raise money, WACCT said. 
“Wyoming’s state revenue picture is dire, and the state’s tax system is unbalanced and unsustainable, yet its overall tax rates are below that of any similar comparison states, suggesting capacity exists to increase tax revenues to support the state’s needs,” WACCT wrote. 
Another idea: Have all of Wyoming’s counties provide financial support to community colleges in the state. 
Currently, only seven counties provide “direct local funding” to Wyoming’s community colleges, despite the fact that “all 23 counties in Wyoming benefit from the programs, services, and graduates of Wyoming community colleges,” the WACCT draft states. 
Two of the WACCT recommendations have to do with mill levies: One would allow community colleges to impose additional mill levies to generate funding, while another would double the statutory limit on the additional five mills colleges already can secure. 
The WACCT draft also asks the state to support capital construction and major maintenance and invest in a Wyoming adult student financial aid program. 
WACCT’s draft resolution begins by offering reasons the state should support its community college system. 
For example, the draft points to Wyoming’s stated goal that two-thirds of the working population age 25- 64 will have a “valuable post-secondary credential” by 2025. 
“The success of Wyoming’s economic and social future is dependent on the educational attainment of its citizens, (and) Wyoming’s community colleges enroll the majority of students in higher education in the state,” the draft reads. 
“Wyoming’s community colleges are the solution for the state’s future, and its citizens, businesses, and elected officials are asking for more from these institutions at a time when the colleges are grappling with doing less because of financial constraints.” 
State funding for community colleges has fallen by $94 million since 2010, WACCT said, and local revenues have decreased more than 15 percent. 
As a result, hundreds of jobs have been eliminated – about 16 percent of the community college workforce, WACCT said – and tuition prices have almost doubled over the past 10 years, “seriously compromising the affordability of a higher education for Wyoming citizens and its future workforce.” 
The CWC board provided feedback on the draft resolution this month, suggesting the language be revised to “add a little more light and a little less heat,” Trustee Craig Tolman said in an interview with The Ranger. 
Tolman is a WACCT member, and CWC Trustee Ernie Over is president of the association.