Northwest College was prepared for a loss of revenue in the next budget even before a legislative session packed with property tax reducing bills saw some come to fruition. 

NWC President Lisa Watson said at the March 3 college board meeting in Cody, the 25% residential property tax cut in Senate File 69, allowed to go into law by Gov. Mark Gordon, will mean likely budget cuts for the college. 

It will, however, mean less loss in revenue, for now, than was previously expected. 

Back in February, when the bill initially contained a 50% property tax cut for all property up to $1 million, Watson said they were looking at roughly $1.4 million in lost revenue based off of discussions on rough estimates with the Park County assessor.

“We don’t know what it’s going to look like with the local levy,” Watson told board members last week. “At 50% it was $1.4 million, so does that mean $700,000, seven and a half? We're not exactly sure yet.”

She reiterated that point at a Wednesday public input session regarding a new master plan, saying the loss could be anywhere "from $500,000 to $1.5 million."

That all depends on how the state parcels out the money received.

However it works out, it will affect the next fiscal year budget the college is gearing up to start working on. And Watson is also eyeing the 50% tax reduction question that will be on the ballot next year.

"We're going to have an election cycle where our citizens are going to be able to vote for a 50% reduction," Watson said, noting that with all of the tough economic conditions in recent years, "How many of those people are going to say no? And so we can have yet another reduction on top of that, which could make it really hard."

She said the last three budget reductions late last decade led to 75 employee positions lost, and while some of those were due to people retiring or enrollment declines, "Some of that was a result of the budget cuts and the fact that we really didn't have the money to operate … So if we have a $1 million, $2 million budget cut again, it will mean people — 80% of your budget is benefits and salaries."

Watson said retirement plan contribution increases could also have an effect on the next budget cycle. 

Also, the 4% cap on property tax increases for single family residences is in effect, meaning it would take years for tax increases to make up the 25% cut. 

For comparison, property taxes have increased nearly 50% in the past few years in much of Park County. 

Watson noted that an even bigger potential cut is on the horizon, as voters will decide in the fall of 2026 on a constitutional amendment that would halve property taxes if passed. 

During the February meeting, while discussing student fees, Watson said the potential of budget cuts was a major topic of discussion at the Wyoming Association of Community College Trustees meetings. 

“These are people's lives that we're affecting with these cuts,” she said, adding, “That was a point in the conversation last week is, how do you manage these cuts and as an institution, as colleges and universities statewide, to try to not negatively affect our students whenever we can — kind of ride out the ebb and flow.”