Wyoming News Exchange

CWC chief warns of impact of falling coal revenue
 
By Katie Roenigk
Riverton Ranger
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
RIVERTON — The continued decline of the local coal industry has Central Wyoming College president Brad Tyndall thinking about the future.
“Coal taxation alone pays for much of CWC’s bills,”Tyndall said in a report to the CWC Board of Trustees. 
He cited data from 2013 that showed coal contributing more than $1 billion annually to state and local governments. 
If that revenue stream were to drop by even 25 percent, Tyndall said, the impact could amount to a $640,000 cut at CWC – an estimate based on the results of similar reductions to the state budget in the past. 
Tyndall’s report highlighted articles about coal plant closures and a decrease in international demand for the product. 
“Coal’s decline in the state is faster and more impactful than what we may think,” he said. “We need to be fiscally strong enough to withstand these types of fiscal shocks. … How does CWC respond or prepare?” 
The school already is “ramping up” its fundraising capacity through philanthropy and grants, and Tyndall said plans to offer a four-year Bachelor of Applied Science degree, and build an outreach center in Jackson, should bring in additional money as well.
As a result of those and other efforts, Tyndall said, he believes the school could weather, for example, a $700,000 “hit” related to coal over the next seven years. 
“I think the things we’re doing (would) be enough,” he said. “(But) that’s the level of aggressiveness that’s called for.” 
In the future, Tyndall said, CWC needs to continue to be “innovative,” “take a little more risk” and be “more bold.” 
“It’s a little daunting, but it’s not that dauting,” he said. “Because I think … we can make it. We just have to keep trying the way we are now.” 
In response to a question from Trustee Craig Tolman about the state’s response to the decline in coal, Tyndall said he is concerned that lawmakers will simply end up using the state’s rainy day fund to get through the downturn. 
“My general impression is … there isn’t yet a sense there, the will, to create revenue, to tax,” Tyndall said. “Everyone’s intrenched. … It feels to me like we’re still kind of in denial. (But) you can’t pretend this isn’t really going to happen.” 
His report indicates CWC already is participating in economic development and diversification efforts that aim to create new “industries, jobs and skills to replace the ones being lost in the energy industry.”
“We don’t have to be panicked or pushed into it,” Tyndall said. 
With enough advance planning, he continued, CWC could even “end up in a good place … by design.”