At their Tuesday morning meeting, Allen County Commissioners approved the publication of the fourth draft of the county’s spending plan.
By trimming the proposed budget by $100,000, Allen County Commissioners will reduce the 2025 mill levy to 59.6. The current mill levy is 60.42.
“It’s been our goal, since I’ve been a commissioner, to keep the mill levy static. We’ve been able to do that,” said Commissioner Bruce Symes. “This year, we have an opportunity to reduce the levy a little bit and I think we should when we can.”
This mill levy reduction could be made possible, explained Symes, by cutting $30,000 from the quarry budget; $60,000 from Emergency Medical Services (EMS); and $5,000 from both the sheriff and jail budgets. Symes noted that the $60,000 trimmed from EMS would be out of the $120,000 additional request the department made for equipment. “I would propose we cut that in half,” he said.
In fact, all of the cuts would be to increases in each department’s proposed budget. The quarry’s budget request had an increase of $128,000. “That’s a pretty big increase,” noted Commissioner Jerry Daniels.
A counter-proposal made by Daniels would go a step further and cut a total of $150,000 from the budget. This could be achieved, he said, by reducing the sheriff’s budget by $25,000; the jail’s by $15,000; and the quarry by $50,000, while maintaining the $60,000 reduction to EMS.
Daniel’s proposal was met with hesitation by Commissioner David Lee. “Just arbitrarily taking $25,000 and $15,000 from the sheriff and jail scares me,” explained Lee. Daniels noted he would be fine with Symes’ initial proposal.
Lee shared concerns about making too many cuts. “I know there is talk of other governmental entities in the county that are looking at some fairly expensive increases, which scares me,” he said, noting these increases affect some of the county, but not all. “If we have the ability to cut, do we want to go ahead and cut some more?”
Symes clarified that Lee was alluding to the proposed Riverside Park improvements that would cost the City of Iola and USD 257 $3.73 million. “As one entity is trying to lower, others are increasing,” Lee said.
Lee added that as the commissioners find “pockets of money,” they need to be cognizant that these pockets will eventually run out.
After continued discussion, the commissioners agreed on Symes’ proposal of cuts and approved the draft of the county’s proposed budget. The commissioners will hold a budget hearing, with auditor Rodney Burns, at 9 a.m on Aug. 27.
IN OTHER NEWS, commissioners approved a bid of $410,957 from Foley Industries, of Chanute, to rebuild a 980 CAT loader that is used at the quarry.
Interim Road and Bridge Director Jeremy Hopkins explained that the rear main seal is out on the piece of equipment. The rebuild would come with “adders,” which includes the lube system, paint, and decals. Hopkins noted that the loader was already scheduled for maintenance within the next year or two, but the broken seal has moved the priority up. The warranty on the rebuild would cover the loader for five years or 6,000 hours. The commission unanimously approved the bid.
Public Works Director Mitch Garner gave a brief update on the new landfill cell. He presented the commission with a contract from Schwab Eaton engineering to extend the inspection for the cell. The delayed completion date has pushed the inspection out further, but it must be completed. “KDHE (Kansas Department of Health and Environment) won’t let them pass anything if they’re not out there inspecting,” said Garner. The extension comes at a cost of $29,400.
Daniels noted that, despite the few overages that have occurred, the cost is still under the initial estimate of the project. The commissioners signed and approved the contract extension.
