'We should all be mindful': LCSD1 considers fiscal impacts of legislative session
Property taxes directly fund local school districts, with a portion of these taxes flowing into the state's School Foundation Program account. The state pulls money from this account to fund inflationary costs of public school funding through the K-12 public school block grant.
With four major property tax relief programs passed last year, and a historical property tax cut signed into law earlier this month, revenue streams into the SFP are expected to take a direct hit.
Gov. Mark Gordon recently signed Senate File 69, which provides a 25% property tax exemption on the first $1 million of a single-family home's fair market value. The bill does not have an end date, nor does it include any backfill from the state.
Laramie County School District 1 Finance Director Jed Cicarelli said SF 69 will hurt the school district's ability to collect local taxes for funding operations. Decreased local revenue means a heavier reliance on the state for school funding, he said.
'As the local tax collections decrease, the pressure on (the SFP) will increase, because the state will have to make up those entitlement payments,' Cicarelli told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. 'But it also means there's less revenue coming into that account. … So you're kind of hitting it on both sides of the equation.'
House Bill 199, "Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act," is another indirect factor to the equation. HB 199 expands eligibility for Wyoming's Education Savings Account (ESA) program by removing the income-based requirement for grades K-12 and increasing the per-child, per-year amount from $6,000 to $7,000.
This program will cost the state an estimated $44.3 million per year out of the SFP starting in 2026, according to the Legislative Service Office.
'Both pieces of legislation have kind of the same effect on … that increased demand on the School Foundation Account,' Cicarelli said. 'We should all be mindful of how that does impact our local governments.'
On a positive note, however, Cicarelli said Wyoming schools still have a state entitlement that ensures adequate funding. And a recent decision from a state district court judge in Laramie County upped the ante on that entitlement, after he found Wyoming has unconstitutionally underfunded its public schools.
The decision was released toward the end of the legislative session, and Wyoming lawmakers wasted no time in restoring the full $66.3 million external cost adjustment through a school recalibration House bill.
Declining student enrollment
Wyoming's largest school district has lost around 1,000 students since the pandemic, and Cicarelli said lower student enrollment reduces state funding to the school district.
LCSD1 was originally estimated to receive an extra $9.3 million in funding from the state this year. However, Cicarelli said the decline in student enrollment is not reflected in the $9.3 million cost adjustment, and district enrollment numbers fell by another 129 students last fall.
He estimated the lower enrollment would cost the district $3.3 million in state funds.
Revenue projections for LCSD1 are also down by $1.4 million, or half a percentage point, Cicarelli told school board members Monday night. He later told the WTE this decline is not a significant concern, and better estimations will be available in the final quarter of the year.
The passage of Senate File 73 also dips into school district funding, since it now requires the district's central office to allocate a portion of its revenue to district-approved and state-approved charter schools.
'That money will come out of our funding and go to those (three charter) schools,' Cicarelli said.
However, it has not yet been determined what these fiscal impacts will be. Multiple other bills passed by the Legislature were also discussed Monday night, with many of them expected to have some fiscal impact to the school district.
Among those was HB 172, a bill that repeals a majority of gun-free zones throughout the state, including in public schools. Cicarelli said the bill could affect costs for insurance, staff training and lock boxes, but the significance of those costs has yet to be determined.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
14-07-2025
- Fast Company
Wyoming announces its first new coal mine in decades will extract rare earth metals
The developer of what would be the first new coal mine in Wyoming in decades is launching a potentially half-billion-dollar effort to extract rare earth metals from the fossil fuel that are crucial for tech products and military hardware. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, and Wyoming's congressional delegation took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for Ramaco Resources, Inc.'s Brook Mine outside Ranchester in northeastern Wyoming. 'Not only do we get coal here, we are going to get those rare earth elements that are going to break our dependence on China,' Wright told Fox News from the mine site Friday. Wright's involvement underscores President Donald Trump's determination to advance fossil fuel projects and mining and reverse former President Joe Biden's moves to support for renewable energy. Administration officials on Monday moved toward selling federal coal leases in the top U.S. coal-producing region in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. On Thursday, officials announced a proposal in Utah that they said would be the first coal exploration project on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property since 2019. Those moves came on the heels of legislation signed last week that lowered royalty payments for companies mining coal on public lands and mandated officials make available for potential mining an area greater in size than Connecticut. Meanwhile, local officials in Utah hope the administration will support plans to build a railroad spur to boost oil drilling. A coalition of eastern Utah counties wants Trump's Transportation Department to approve $2.4 billion in bonds for the 88-mile (140-kilometer) spur to export oil from the Uinta Basin, a project that may proceed after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. On Friday, the minerals capturing the administration's attention were not just coal but rare earths — a family of 17 metallic elements with unusual properties that make them useful in modern technology, from electric car batteries and wind turbines to military targeting devices. The only operating U.S. rare earths mine is at Mountain Pass in California. Nearly all of the nation's supply comes from China, the source of nearly 90% of the world's supply. Rare earths aren't especially rare but so scattered they are difficult to bring together in useful quantities. Concern about continued access to them has been a focus of recent negotiations between China and the U.S., and led the Trump administration to try to encourage more production domestically. 'We would intend to mine it here in Wyoming, process it here in Wyoming and sell it to domestic customers including the government,' Ramaco CEO Randall Atkins said Thursday. Former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent who left office in January after not seeking reelection, joined the Ramaco board in April. The new Brook Mine, though relatively small, offers a glimmer of optimism for Wyoming's coal industry as potentially the state's first new coal mine in 50 years. Massive, open-pit mines east of the Brook Mine supply around 40% of the nation's coal but Wyoming coal mining has shrunk substantially since its peak over a decade ago, as utilities switch to renewable energy and power plants fueled by cheaper natural gas. 'Wyoming is moving to meet growing energy demands here at home and internationally — with the recognition that coal — Wyoming coal — is essential to healthy energy portfolios,' Gordon, a Republican, said in a statement after the Brook Mine event. The Brook Mine has been in the works for over a decade, stalled in part by landowners worried about groundwater depletion. Atkins originally envisioned it as a source of subbituminous power plant fuel like the state's other coal mines. A public company with metallurgical coal mines in Appalachia, Ramaco in recent years received Department of Energy grants to develop coal into carbon-based products such as carbon fiber. This year, it got a $6.1 million grant from Wyoming to build a rare earth and critical minerals processing plant. A consultant report released this week found that fully developing the mine and processing plant to extract rare earths would cost $533 million, a sum that could be recovered in five years if the elements in the coal prove profitable. Ramaco also would sell the processed coal as fuel, Atkins said. Analysis by U.S. national laboratories show the Brook Mine coal contains valuable quantities of the rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, as well as the critical minerals gallium, scandium and germanium, according to a Ramaco letter to shareholders on July 1. Neodymium and dysprosium are used in the permanent magnets of wind turbines, lanthanum in electric and hybrid car batteries. Yttrium and terbium have critical military uses, including in targeting devices.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Yahoo
Ramaco to Host U.S. Secretary of Energy, Top Elected Officials for Historic Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Nation's First Rare Earth Mine in Decades
The Brook Mine will also be first new coal mine in Wyoming in over 50 years RANCHESTER, Wyo., July 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: METC, METCB, "Ramaco" or the "Company") and Ramaco Rare Earth, LLC will host a landmark ribbon cutting and groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, July 11, to commemorate the opening of the Brook Mine Carbon Ore Rare Earth project. It will be the first new rare earth mine in the United States in more than 70 years and first new coal mine in Wyoming in over 50 years. The event, themed "American Independence: A Rare Earth Revolution," will take place at Ramaco's iCAM Technology Center in Ranchester, Wyoming, and is scheduled to feature remarks from national and state leaders. This includes U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman and former U.S. Senator and Ramaco Board member Joe Manchin. "This is more than a ribbon cutting — it's a declaration of America's resolve to reclaim its leadership in critical minerals and energy independence," said Randall W. Atkins, Chairman and Chief Executive of Ramaco Resources. "We are proud that Ramaco will be developing the first new mine to lead the United States in creating a viable domestic supply line of strategic rare earths and critical minerals. " Atkins continued, "The magnitude of our deposit is such that the Brook Mine will be able to supply a substantial portion of the critical supply needed for our country for many decades to come. We have been able to find these critical materials associated with coal, an abundant resource that indeed the United States possesses the world's largest supply. This demonstrates that coal will continue to play a vital role in supplying our nation's critical minerals as well as energy requirements. China may now be dominating these critical materials. But this will be America's rare earth mine." Senator John Barrasso stated: "For generations, the people of Wyoming have harnessed our coal resources for the benefit of America. Thanks to groundbreaking research in Wyoming, we now know this coal is a new source of critical, rare-earth minerals. This exciting development will allow Ramaco to open the first rare earths mine in the United States in decades. Mining our own minerals will help safely and securely power the advanced technologies driving our economy and national defense. And once again, Wyoming's energy resources are leading the way." Senator Cynthia Lummis stated: "Wyoming does not follow energy trends, it creates them. Ramaco's decision to open the first rare earths mine in decades marks a new chapter in Wyoming's rich mining heritage and will produce resources needed to achieve energy independence and grow our economy. Wyoming continues to fuel American progress while creating high-paying jobs for our communities, and I thank Ramaco for investing in Wyoming." Governor Mark Gordon stated: "Wyoming continues to be a leader in energy innovation, including the expansion of our critical mineral industries. With support from the Energy Matching Funds Program, we are celebrating the exciting potential for Wyoming coal and rare earth minerals, along with their role in the expansion of our state's energy economy." The Brook Mine project represents a strategic milestone in the nation's efforts to reduce foreign reliance on critical minerals essential to defense, technology, and clean energy. Coal miners, community leaders, industry stakeholders, and local, state, federal officials will be in attendance at the ribbon cutting event, which is also open to the press. For more details or registration information for the groundbreaking please email info@ ABOUT RAMACO RESOURCES Ramaco Resources, Inc. is an operator and developer of high-quality, low-cost metallurgical coal in southern West Virginia, and southwestern Virginia and a developing producer of coal, rare earth and critical minerals in Wyoming. Its executive offices are in Lexington, Kentucky, with operational offices in Charleston, West Virginia and Sheridan, Wyoming. The Company currently has four active metallurgical coal mining complexes in Central Appalachia and one development rare earth and coal mine near Sheridan, Wyoming in the initial stages of production. In 2023, the Company announced that a major deposit of primary magnetic rare earths and critical minerals was discovered at its mine near Sheridan, Wyoming. Contiguous to the Wyoming mine, the Company operates a carbon research and pilot facility related to the production of advanced carbon products and materials from coal. In connection with these activities, it holds a body of roughly 76 intellectual property patents, pending applications, exclusive licensing agreements and various trademarks. News and additional information about Ramaco Resources, including filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are available at For more information, contact investor relations at (859) 244-7455. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Ramaco Resources, Inc.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Yahoo
More states pass laws restricting transgender people's bathroom use
A transgender activist clasps her hands while Kentucky state senators vote in 2023 on a bill restricting gender-affirming care for minors. So far in 2025, at least eight states have passed or expanded laws restricting which bathrooms transgender people are allowed to use. () Nineteen states now have a law or policy banning transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. About 1 in 4 transgender people live in states with some form of bathroom restrictions, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit research group that tracks LGBTQ+-related legislation. So far this year, at least eight states have passed new transgender bathroom laws or expanded existing ones. In March, Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon signed a pair of Republican-sponsored bills restricting the use of bathrooms and locker rooms in public buildings. The House bill requires public school students and anyone in a government building to use the bathroom or locker room corresponding with their sex assigned at birth, regardless of their gender identity, appearance or the gender on their legal documents. The Senate's bill, which requires public school students to use facilities that align with their sex at birth, was introduced after a local school board called on lawmakers to restrict bathroom use. SC senators approve K-12 mandate that 'a boy will use the boys' bathroom' Wyoming Republican Rep. Martha Lawley, who sponsored the House bill along with another one restricting transgender girls' participation in sports, called them 'commonsense measures.' 'As the first state to grant women the right to vote, we showed the nation that Wyoming leads when it comes to equal opportunity,' Lawley wrote in an op-ed she published online ahead of the legislative session. 'Now, we can lead again, ensuring our daughters and granddaughters can pursue their dreams with the same sense of fairness and security.' Earlier in the session, a local Wyoming basketball coach who is a transgender woman spoke against the bill because she said it would require her to share a restroom with teenage boys, WyoFile reported. Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and West Virginia have also passed or expanded similar bathroom laws this year. South Carolina renewed its K-12 bathroom law this year as part of the state budget. The mandate — initially inserted into the budget last year during the Senate's floor debate — applies to multi-stalled school restrooms and places where students undress, to include locker rooms and gym showers. Such directives attached to South Carolina's state spending package — called provisos — are officially one-year laws. But they roll over from one year to the next indefinitely, unless legislators vote to take them out. There was no debate at all this year on the bathroom rule, which carries over into the fiscal year that starts Tuesday. A lawsuit challenging it was filed in federal court last November on behalf of a transgender middle school student in Berkeley County. Attorneys for the national nonprofit Public Justice have asked for the law to be suspended pending the case's outcome, but nothing has been decided. In Arizona, the legislature passed a bill in May that would have restricted school bathrooms and changing rooms, but Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed it, along with two other GOP-backed bills targeting transgender people. Stateline reporter Anna Claire Vollers can be reached at avollers@ SC Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report. Like the SC Daily Gazette, Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@
