Collapsing energy prices and the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to cost Wyoming up to $1.5 billion in revenues through June 2022, preliminary estimates released Tuesday show, setting the stage for steep budget cuts, new taxes, or a mix of both.
In a preliminary report delivered Tuesday to members of the Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee, state budget director Don Richards said Wyoming is anticipating declines in sales tax revenues of up to 30 percent in the 2021 fiscal year, exacerbated by a slowdown in estimated oil production of nearly 50 percent from estimates made in January. In all, that amounts to a shortfall of $877 million in the state’s general fund budget by June 30, 2022, or a budget reduction of roughly one-third.