County Finalizes Budget, Public Hearings Set

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The Grant County Commission met in a special session July 25 to decide on some last-minute appropriation requests and discuss a proposed millage rate. Thursday was the last day the commission had to send its budget to the state, and public hearings are set for August.

Commissioner Marty Long led the meeting off with a phone call with Rod Hay, auditor with Hay, Rice, and Associates, and said that after speaking with Jay Hall from the Kansas Association of Counties, learned that the Grant County Library is not its own separate taxing district. That question arose while the commissioners were previously discussing the budget.

“The board members are not elected, they’re appointed by us,” Long said.

After speaking with the library director, the commission felt like it needed to reduce the amount of the library’s appropriations request of $579,336, removing $50,000 off the library’s employee benefits and $50,000 off the general budget.

“We still want (the library) to have the authority to spend what is presented in this budget, but we only want to fund it $100,000 less,” Long said.

With $479,336 from the county, the library would tap into its reserves for the remaining $100,000.

Making those changes to the budget gives the county a tentative mill levy of 62.97 for 2025, which is higher than the 2024 millage rate of 60.850. Even with a higher mill levy, the taxes from the county won’t be higher because the valuations went down.

“We’re cutting $1.5 million out of what we’ve done in the past,” said county clerk Sheila Brown.

Long explained that if values go down, the mill levy has to go up in order to raise the same amount of tax dollars.

“So, your mill levy’s higher, your appraisal values are lower, but dollars collected by the county is the same,” Long said. “But they’re still going up because there’s a tax shift because oil and gas went down 51% so as the tax shifts sideways they have to make up for it. That’s no fault of ours, weren’t raising anymore money.

“The concept of trying to match last year’s mill levy with reduction in value is a double whammy because that 62 mills isn’t what that 60.85 was last year because a mill is not worth as much.”

Brown said a mill was worth $175,000 last year and it’s worth $143,000 this year.

“If we leave it right now, where’s at, we’re collecting less dollars than last year, even raising the mill levy, because a mill is worth so much less” Long said.

The commission decided on an even 62 mills.

•The commission decided to us its opioid funds to appropriate a $1,500 request from City on a Hill, which is a Garden City-based substance abuse and addiction service; approved $15,000 for the Grant County Chamber of Commerce;, and $12,000 for Western Kansas Child Advocacy. The commission discussed an appropriations request from Core Community Ulysses  but chose not to fund them this year due to valuation.  The commission chose not to add another appropriation never funded before, at this time.  The commissioners  asked County Clerk Sheila Brown to let Core Commmunity Ulysses know they would not be funding them and to encourage them to submit a request next year.

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