Wyoming State Finances Receive a Grade of “A”

Unlike in most states, Wyoming’s elected officials have only promised the amount of benefits they can afford to pay. Consequently, Wyoming’s finances are in great shape. The state has enough money to pay all of its bills with a leftover surplus of $4.3 billion, according to Truth in Accounting's (TIA) analysis of Wyoming's most recent financial filings. When broken down, this equates to a taxpayer surplus of $20,500 for each Wyoming taxpayer, which makes it a Sunshine State according to TIA.

These statistics are good for Wyoming, but what's troubling is that state government officials continue to obscure large amounts of retirement debt on their balance sheets, despite new rules to increase financial transparency. This skewed financial data gives state residents a false impression of their state's overall financial health.

Truth in Accounting is a Chicago-based nonprofit think tank that analyzes state financial reports when they are published. According to its report for 2016, Wyoming has $11.5 billion of assets available to pay the state's bills totaling $7.2 billion. Wyoming has $4.3 billion available after bills have been paid, which breaks down to $20,500 per taxpayer. TIA's Taxpayer Surplus™ measurement incorporates both assets and liabilities, not just pension debt.

Because of an accounting rule implemented last year, Wyoming had to report its pension debt on its balance sheet. This year, the state's reported pension debt grew from $413.7 million in 2015 to $680.7 million in 2016. Despite reporting its pension debt, the state continues to hide most of its retiree health care debt. Wyoming's total hidden debt amounts to $555.1 million. A new accounting standard will be implemented in two years that will require states to report this debt on the balance sheet.

The bottom line is that Wyoming has enough money to pay its bills, so it has received an "A" for its finances from Truth in Accounting. An "A" grade is given to states with a taxpayer surplus™ greater than $10,000.

See how Wyoming compares to Idaho, Montana and South Dakota: http://www.statedatalab.org/c/OrqlTptGc0876dd.
Click on the link to go to an interactive chart at Truth in Accounting’s State Data Lab.