ROCK SPRINGS — The message was clear Saturday during a town hall meeting at Western Wyoming Community College focused on recent layoffs and budgetary goals.
“We have to reduce our expenses … we have no other choice,” Western President Kirk Young said.
The college will be shedding 33 total positions and reworking and reorganizing another 30 to cut costs as the college seeks to find roughly $4 million in savings. Those savings will be used to address funding shortfalls, wean the college off of relying on reserves to balance its budget, and fund a compensation adjustment plan to bring college salaries in line with other community colleges. The $4 million doesn’t make up for the full funding gap, with the total gap the college needs to address being $5.4 million.
Positions being completely cut include four overseen by Young, eight overseen by the Vice President of Administrative Services, 11 positions overseen by the Vice President of Student Services; and 10 positions overseen by the Vice President of Academic Affairs. A list of positions SweetwaterNOW received that was confirmed by Young includes eight faculty positions, three in information technology, the entirety of the college’s protective services employees, along with others in the Accessibility and Wellness Office and administrative assistants supporting deans and directors. Young previously said protective services positions are evolving into six campus safety coordinator positions, two of which being full time roles, two being part time, and two live-in positions at the college’s residence halls. The new jobs were posted internally Thursday, allowing those losing their jobs a chance to apply for the new roles. Young says the hiring process won’t start until after the new year begins and employees who are hired into a new position will be able to keep their years of service to the college intact. Overall, the college spends approximately 74% of its budget on salaries.
While issues related to property tax are an aggravating factor in the layoffs and other actions the college has taken, Young said the college would still have the conversation about cutting costs regardless of if property tax funding was reduced or not. Young said while he can’t speak about past decisions made at the college, he does want to leave Western in a better position than it was when he was hired.
“Whenever the time comes that somebody else steps into this role, I’m not going to hand over the role the way it was handed over to me,” Young said.
The college has utilized its reserves to balance its budget for several years; a practice Young says makes him nervous.
“That’s like using your savings account to balance your household budget,” Young said. “There’s a limit to what you have in your savings account.”
One of the major tasks the college board has given Young is eliminating the reliance on reserve funds for balancing the budget. Even with the work already done to cut costs and find savings, the college will still need to utilize reserves “for a little while,” according to Young.
Tax Revenue is a Concern
The college has seen impacts from the decrease in property taxes resulting from action taken by the Wyoming Legislature. The college is already dealing with the impacts of the 2024 residential property tax exemptions, losing approximately $750,000 that went to college, as well as another $250,000 that benefitted athletics, the children’s center, and aquatics center. That $250,000 loss is what led to the dissolution of Western’s volleyball team.
Concern remains that further funding declines will result from legislation being proposed for the upcoming budget session in Cheyenne, which includes a bill that would eliminate residential property taxes and another that would remove a sunset date from the homeowner’s tax exemption. Along with those bills, voters will decide on an initiative that would reduce Wyoming homeowners’ property tax burden by 50% during the November 2026 election.
Debbie Baker, the associate vice president of finance for the college, said Western’s administration isn’t sure how much further property tax exemptions and decreases will impact the college if they’re approved by the legislature. Using Sweetwater County property tax information, Baker said a home with an estimated value of $184,000 pays $87.38 to Western through a total property tax bill of $1,293.07, while a home valued at $546,000 pays $259.40 off of a total property tax of $3,838.24.
Baker said a majority of the local property tax paid to the college comes from Sweetwater County’s industrial and commercial operations. Baker said the top 30 industries contribute more than 77% of all property taxes paid to the county, some of which makes its way to the college. Using one anonymous commercial property tax statement, Baker said a company with a $6.5 million commercial property tax bill pays nearly $472,000 in taxes that go directly to the college.
“When there’s questions out there about ‘are companies paying their share to the college,’ they absolutely are and we appreciate that support,” Baker said.
However, while that commercial tax base benefits the college, it also impacts how much the college receives from the state, with Baker saying the appropriations from the state are smaller because of that local benefit. A further impact on state appropriations comes through the creation of Gillette College, which means the allocations will be split amongst eight community colleges, not seven.
Sweetwater County Assessor Dave Divis said the tax initiatives being pushed in Cheyenne are bad tax policies. Divis said if residential property tax is eliminated, renters would find themselves in a situation where they wouldn’t benefit from the tax elimination and find themselves paying more in sales tax. The bill would raise sales tax by 2%, increasing the state’s base sales tax from 4% to 6%, with consumers in Sweetwater County paying a total 8% sales tax. Divis urged attendees to speak with their elected representatives about the negative impacts the tax bills would have locally.
Bringing Employee Compensation in Line
The compensation adjustment work addresses numerous shortcomings in the college’s salaries. Young said there have been instances where senior employees have seen people hired for similar, albeit junior roles at higher salaries than they receive and said the compensation structure itself has resulted in people being hired at below their market value. Young said the compensation issue has impacted employee morale over the years, with it being mentioned as a key issue in employee surveys.
Before Young took over as the college’s president, the board voted to approve a compensation study that revealed how far behind Western is compared to other colleges. Young said while education won’t keep up with what the private sector pays, Western isn’t even keeping up with what other colleges pay their employees.
The compensation issue has also led to the college struggling to hire for some positions, including an instructor position that has been open for the past three years. Overall, Young said the issue isn’t that the college is handing out raises to employees but making sure they’re earning a market-appropriate rate for their experience and certifications.
What Has the College Done?
Along with layoffs and job restructuring, the college has reduced its operating expenses by 15%. However, some expenses like electricity and heating cannot be cut. While enrollment has increased, the amount the college charges in tuition is dictated by the Wyoming Community College Commission and isn’t something the college has full control over. Mark Rembacz, the college’s vice president of institutional effectiveness, said the college has seen a 6% increase in student enrollment within the last year, with projections suggesting a 10% increase for the Fall 2026 semester, though the college is still below its 2013 enrollment numbers. While that does mean more tuition coming to the college, Rembacz said tuition also represents one of the smaller contributors to the college’s funding mix.
Rembacz also said student fees have been adjusted, but the college wants to be mindful of how it approaches those increases as fees come directly out of the students’ pockets. He said the college has historically kept fees low. He said the fees directly fund services used by students the year they’re paid and don’t go to something being funded in the future. He said the college operates under a similar philosophy prescribed to the University of Wyoming under the Wyoming Constitution to be as free as possible.
With the college foundation, Rembacz said there is approximately $30 million in its accounts, but the money is tied up in endowments that primarily support student scholarships. He said the college can’t approach the foundation board with a request to offset a funding gap because their funds are encumbered.
