Campbell County Commissioners Providing Financial Help To Gillette College

Recent changes in how some tax dollars are distributed has put the Gillette Community College District in a financial bind, but the Campbell County Commissioners have stepped in to help.

Earlier this week, the Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with the District, to allow the district to use up to $10 million in county reserves, between now and September of next year.

A college district spokesperson says when the district board of trustees passed its budget for the current school year, they passed it with the understanding that the district would receive ad valorem tax dollars in a lump sum each school year.

An ad valorem tax is a tax based on the assessed value of an item, such as real estate or personal property. 

The most common ad valorem taxes are property taxes levied on real estate.

Recent legislation made it so that mineral extraction companies pay the taxes on a monthly basis, and the district did not find this out until about 1 month ago.

Not only is the district not receiving the tax dollars, it also did not know that the state treasurer’s office was offering loans to those affected financially by the new legislation.

The changes to the ad valorem tax collection was done in response to energy companies starting in Campbell County and then leaving without having to pay their tax burdens.

The Campbell County Commission will be able to recoup the funds when the tax dollars are eventually sent out for allocation.

One commissioner said the financial situation that the college district is in, was unforeseeable, hence the commission was able to step in and help.

The Gillette Community College District is still working on its separation from the Northern Wyoming Community College District and is working on becoming an accredited learning institution.