If it ain’t broke don’t fix it — unless you’re in government.
For local residents Dr. Darrell Monfort, a veterinarian with Red Barn, and Jonet Bland, a retired family consumer science teacher, their role on the Southwind Extension District board is being challenged by a bill before the state Senate.
Monfort and Bland represent Allen County on the Extension district board along with Dr. Wes Stone and Jim Smart, a LaHarpe farmer.
The board’s role of setting the budget authority for the district is being challenged by state Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-District 12, in Senate Bill 411.
In telephone conversations with Bland and Monfort Wednesday afternoon, neither knew the motivation behind Tyson’s effort to revamp the Extension district structure.
Allen, Neosho and Bourbon counties comprise the Southwind District. Each county has four elected board members who serve for two years and are eligible for re-election another two years.
Senate Bill 411 would revert budget authority to county commissioners. In an interview with the Fort Scott Tribune, Tyson said the concern is that property taxes could be raised by district boards “with no restrictions.”
Bland took exception to the accusation.
“We operate very conservatively,” she said. “None of us has any intent of raising property taxes.”
“I was a public school teacher for 40 years and operated on next to nothing,” she said. “We’re property taxpayers, too. As a group, we’re very conservative.”
Monfort said he was unaware of any Extension District abusing its responsibility to taxpayers, adding that the Southwind board probably has more oversight when it comes to drafting a budget than does a county commission.
“We have Extension district representatives go over our budgets with us,” he said.
The concern on the part of Extension districts is that for those not philosophically supported by their county commissions, they stand to suffer.
“We’ve always had strong support from our Allen County commissioners,” said Monfort, “but that’s not always the case in every county.”
Bland added the advantages of combining the manpower of three counties has enabled the Extension district to offer more expertise in more fields, including horticulture, aging and finance.
