Wyoming revenue forecast tops January estimate as record investment income boosts reserves

Don Richards, the Legislative Service Office analyst presenting the October Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) report, opened the Appropriations Committee hearing by saying fiscal year 2025 collections exceeded the January CREG forecast. “Fiscal year 2025 exceeded the revenue collections as compared to the January Craig forecast,” Richards said, noting CREG generally biases estimates slightly low to avoid overpromising.

Why it matters: Richards told lawmakers the general fund and the budget reserve account were about $71.9 million ahead of the January forecast and that, when the general fund, budget reserve and Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account (LSRA) are treated collectively, the biennium outlook is about $88.5 million stronger than previously projected. That extra room comes mainly from unexpectedly large investment returns and from agency reversions — unused appropriations that revert to the state.

Major details: Richards said investment income for the state reached approximately $1.86 billion this year, a record that, by constitutional and statutory rules, required significant deposits to the School Foundation Program (SFP). He laid out two remedies to a $70.3 million shortfall in a longstanding “fund swap” intended to move federal mineral royalty receipts into the Common School Permanent Land Fund reserve: transfer available SFP reserve…