College president likely will ask for end to financial exigency

Dr. Walt Tribley, who’s president of the Northern Wyoming Community College District, said he will probably ask the district’s trustees next month to end the financial exigency they declared nearly a year ago.

Tribley made the statement in a report to trustees during their meeting this week. He said that doesn’t mean the district is out of financial threat.

But, Dr. Triblee said, at this time, the district’s ongoing revenues are meeting the ongoing costs.

He said a financial exigency, which the district declared in June 2020, translates to a severe financial emergency, which at the time was due to both COVID-19 pandemic-related items and cuts to ongoing funding from the state of Wyoming.

The budget the district’s trustees approved for the year that started on July 1, 2020, included a decrease of over $4 million in expenses, including a reduction of 16 positions from the district’s staff.

Dr. Tribley said the current Wyoming Legislature, which will be in session through March, has in drafts of the supplemental budget included a third cut to community colleges. He said the Northern Wyoming Community College District’s share of those cuts has so far been estimated at just over $1 million per year. In response to questions from trustees, he said that figure could, in fact, be higher.

And while Dr. Tribley said he expects to ask trustees to end the financial exigency next month, he cautioned that the district will continue to make decisions that are disproportionately influenced by the fiscal situation, especially concerning the third round of cuts in funds from the state.