Revenue earned from investments has outpaced all other income streams in Wyoming, an “all-time record” for the state.
That’s according to an October report from revenue forecasters presented to state lawmakers on the interim Joint Appropriations Committee on Oct. 30 in Cheyenne.
The report by the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group (CREG) says Wyoming’s investment portfolio revenue has grown larger than even the revenue generated when minerals are taken from federal lands, monies that are then shared with the state.
“I can't overemphasize the amount of money that was generated from the savings of the state for this,” said CREG co-Chair Don Richards, who noted that state Treasurer Curt Meier’s office had realized $1.86 billion in investment earnings across all funds and accounts.
The report highlighted the fact that investment earnings generated from the state’s Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund (PWMTF), a fund that represents a portion of Wyoming's mineral severance tax revenue, surpassed the total sales and use taxes deposited into the general fund from any year by a “wide margin.”
“This marks the first time PWMTF realized earnings have exceeded the [general fund] portion of statewide sales and use taxes,” the CREG report states. “In sum, the state’s fiscal performance in FY 2025 was dominated by record realized investment earnings.”
However, officials also noted that revenue streams like sales and use tax and state royalties fell below what forecasters had predicted during the last fiscal year.
Forecasters also referenced the inherent volatility in investment monies and emphasized the volatility of Wyoming’s income streams in general.
“Investment earnings, especially from realized capital gains, are extremely volatile,” the report continues. “The outsized performance of investment earnings may not be repeated.”
In addition to high investment revenue earnings, the report shows that oil, natural gas, coal and trona all ended the last fiscal year with slightly stronger production than was forecast.
“Natural gas prices outpaced CREG's January 2025 forecast and combined with higher than expected production across all minerals, more than offset slightly lower than forecast oil, coal, and trona prices,” said the report.
At a Wyoming Freedom Caucus press conference after the report was presented, Rep. John Bear (R-Gillette), the chair emeritus of the caucus, said big cuts to the state budget are still necessary.
“It would be easy to say we need to cut because we just don't have the money,” said Bear. “And what the CREG report shows is that right now, we have money.”
But Bear said that because Wyomingites’ costs have been increasing at the same time as the state is saving more money, cuts are still needed to state spending. He mentioned higher property tax rate assessments paired with a growing state savings account.
“ I don't think that many families in Wyoming have been able to increase their savings by over 10%, which the state has been able to do in the last few years,” he said. “What did we do when we did that? We didn't provide that tax relief. So this last year, we did provide some tax relief.”
The CREG report is released by officials every October as the governor is drafting his budget proposal, with a revised report out every January. Gov. Mark Gordon’s budget proposal is expected to be made public on or before Nov. 17.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
