Campbell County High School students got out their phones last spring to shoot videos of a grey-water geyser in the hallway of their school. The water flooded the halls, which are fortunately not carpeted. But they threatened the nearby classrooms, which are — and which teem with extension cords from having so few power outlets.
That same semester, spring rains leaked onto students’ food in the commons area.
Black water bubbles up into the toilets, prompting students to retch into the nearby garbage cans, local teacher Jami Howe told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.
And the nearly 53-year-old building built in 1972 has more than 60 doors to the outside, a huge number of entrances for staffers to monitor in today’s invader-wary school climate, said Howe.
Howe is not alone in her concerns.
State Rep. Abby Angelos, R-Gillette, reminded her fellow legislators last week that the school’s fire suppression system is outdated and parts for it are growing unattainable, and the heating and ventilation system is a patchwork of old units that can’t keep the temperature under control.
Howe elaborated, saying some classrooms have leaky windows and can get down to 47 degrees during school hours, while other rooms are so stuffy that 75 degrees makes for a “cold day.”
Because, Property Tax Cuts
A Wyoming appropriation bill that would give the school district $165 million to destroy the building and its bus barn and rebuild both facilities took an uncertain route through the Wyoming House of Representatives over the past two weeks and now sits before the state Senate.
House Bill 259 would appropriate $29.8 million to ongoing maintenance projects for schools around Wyoming, plus $11.7 million for unanticipated costs under its projects. And as it sits now, it would also furnish the $165,357,752 for the new Campbell County School District 1 facilities.
That appropriation ranged from nonexistent, to a $4 million “placeholder,” to the full figure as the House debated and tweaked the bill.
The full figure made some lawmakers squeamish because, if it passes, the state would be pledging it while also promising up to 50% in property tax cuts.
“We need to allow the property tax issues to settle themselves out a little bit and get a little clearer idea of exactly where we are going to stand, and what we can afford to do,” Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, told the House Appropriations Committee last week, during a debate on whether to fund the project wholly.
Pendergraft voted against the full funding but voted in favor of a later amendment Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, brought, to promise about $4 million in design costs as a project placeholder.
When the bill got to the House floor, Rep. Ken Clouston, R-Gillette, upped the $4 million appropriation with an amendment to fund the project halfway – to get it going in phases – for $82.7 million.
The House approved that.
Then on Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, brought one final change, asking the House for the total build and demolition amount. He argued that delaying the project with phases would only saddle the project with higher, inflation-driven price tags for its later phases.
Pendergraft once again urged caution, saying the Legislature can’t be sure how deeply its proposed property tax cuts will gouge local school funding and other coffers.
“We’ve been building at a breakneck pace for many years,” said Pendergraft, amid other discussion of a recent high school rebuild appropriation in Rock Springs. “We need to take a good hard look at the rest of what we’re doing throughout this session. We all want to give people property tax relief. And this is affected by that.”
Around 64% of Wyoming property taxes go toward local schools and the School Foundation Program Account. The remainder goes to local governments to fund services such as repairing roads and local emergency medical services.
‘Boom’
Larsen said Pendergraft made it a “wonderful debate” by pinpointing the problem.
Lawmakers want to cut residential property taxes, which soared in the past two years, hurt many residents and caused nearly statewide outcry. But the Wyoming Legislature has a legal obligation to fund schools to a high standard – as established in multiple Wyoming Supreme Court cases.
Just like a business, Larsen argued, the state should put its money toward preventing legal liabilities.
“Or do you put the other priorities, whether they be political or constituent-driven, that don’t have a requirement in front of them (first)?” asked Larsen, rhetorically. “Boom. Property tax (relief) versus funding this school.”
Meanwhile
A key property tax relief bill churning on the Senate side would give a 50% tax cut to homeowners on the first $1 million of their taxable home value. When proposed, those figures were 25% and $2 million.
Sen. Troy McKeown, R-Gillette, proposed the lower threshold coupled with the deeper cut Tuesday, and the Senate adopted those to Senate File 69.
When the bill contemplated the lesser cut of 25% coupled with the higher threshold of $2 million in home values, the Legislative Service Office estimated the state would need to spend $225 million total in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to compensate for the loss – which would have come out of the state’s $4.3 billion in savings, if the Senate had agreed to “backfill” the loss.
The Senate removed the backfill provision from the bill Tuesday.
While Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, estimated the new version of the bill could double the gouge to the state’s accounts, McKeown said he’d been in touch with the Wyoming Department of Revenue, and the new figures would only add about $33 million to the $225 million revenue decrease.
The lower threshold helped with that, he indicated.
“This brings property tax values back to 2019,” said McKeown.
Campbell County took in $4.2 million from residential property taxes in 2024, according to a spreadsheet compiled by the Wyoming County Commissioners Association.
McKeown did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
Sen. Charlie Scott, R-Casper, urged the adoption of the 50% cut as well, saying his constituents urged property tax reductions while he was campaigning last year.
Those hurt by soaring residential property taxes fell into two categories: young families struggling from paycheck to paycheck amid unprecedented inflation – and older retirees living on a fixed income, he said.
Also, the voters may pass their own property tax referendum if the Legislature doesn’t act, said Scott.
“I’m afraid if we don’t do this, come the 2026 election, we’ll see it imposed on us from the outside without the limitation on the large expensive homes, so it would reach the large expensive homes that are owned by people who don’t need this kind of exemption,” said Scott. “This makes this a real alternative to that, that would satisfy the needs, satisfy it early; reach the people that would be helped by it.”
SF 69 is not the only property tax bill the Legislature is contemplating. The House is reviewing proposed exemptions, as a bill reduce the assessment rate of residential property values, and another that would replace some property tax revenues with increased sales taxes.
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
The camel is the mascot for Campbell County High School in Gillette, and the school's "Camel pride" is emphasized with the large camel sculpture in front of the school. Called Humphrey, the sculpture is painted by student classes and clubs multiple times a year, including the Hope Squad. (Jen Kocher for Cowboy State Daily) 
Black water bubbles up into a toilet at Campbell County High School in Gillette. (Courtesy Jami Howe) 
The camel in front of Campbell County High School in Gillette. (Photo Courtesy James Grabrick) 
Campbell County High School in Gillette, Wyoming.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
