Speaking to a small group of people Thursday night, Sen. John Hastert, Minority Whip for the Wyoming Senate, said the past legislative session didn’t result in cost-based cuts to education.
“Education funding needs to be equitable and cost-based,” Hastert said.
Echoing comments made by Representatives Stan Blake and John Freemen, Hastert said the session was one of the most difficult he’s been involved in. The legislature passed a bill which resulted in approximately $34 million in cuts to education. For Sweetwater County School District No. 2, those cuts resulted in the district’s budget being cut by $1.6 million.
Hastert said House Bill 236, which enacts the education cuts, cut schools arbitrarily. Seeking audience input during a presentation he, Blake and Freeman hosted at Golden Hour Senior Center, Hastert asked if those attending would support a small tax to support education.
Everyone in attendance raised their hands.
Hastert believes a small mill levy increase on property taxes could go a long way to support education in Wyoming. He said a three mill increase in property taxes, amounting to about $50 in total, could raise an estimated $80 million for education in Sweetwater County.
Wyoming residents pay approximately 9.5 percent of the total value of their property in taxes while the minerals industry pays 100 percent on theirs. One of the problems with declines in the minerals industry is that those declines hit state coffers hard, which trickles down to other state agencies and local governments.
Blake said one of the barriers legislators faced in talking about a potential tax increase was a pledge many conservative legislators took to not increase taxes.
Hastert said Wyoming residents have the lowest tax burden of any state and would like to see it remain that way, but thinks there is support for a small education tax amongst county and state residents.
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