State committee talks K-12 school construction, major maintenance funding

CHEYENNE – Lawmakers held preliminary discussions Tuesday in Casper regarding legislation that could transfer funds to an account used for capital construction and major maintenance needs for school districts statewide.

With the decline of federal coal lease bonus revenues, the challenge for state legislators and local school administrators has been to find revenue to fill that gap for building projects.

In recent years, lawmakers have broadened revenue sources for K-12 school capital construction by directing investment income to a school major maintenance account and depositing one-third of state royalties on school lands to a mineral royalties account. But the Legislature will still have some work to do during its next session.

Matthew Willmarth, senior school finance analyst with the Legislative Service Office, told members of the Select Committee on School Facilities on Tuesday in Casper there is no mechanism to transfer those funds to the School Capital Construction Account. That would require legislation or a budget bill footnote, he said.

Read more: https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/in_our_schools/state-committee-talks-k--school-construction-major-maintenance-funding/article_f4419a1d-4e0e-50e2-b66d-63ed0a1fa1ff.html