Proposed county budget includes 3.783 mill increase

The Jackson County Commissioners are proposing a 3.783 mill increase for the 2017 budget in order to continue to provide the same county services throughout the next five years under the new state tax lid.

The commission is proposing a 77.622 mill levy for the next fiscal year, compared to 73.839 used to fund the 2016 budget. In 2015, the county levied 73.764 mills.

“We kept it as tight as we could keep it while still maintaining services,” said Commission Chairman Janet Zwonitzer.

Starting with the 2018 budget, counties and cities will not be allowed to raise their budgets beyond the Consumer Price Index without having a public vote, according to new state law. As a result, many governing boards are increasing their budgets this year in order to save funds back for when the tax lid takes effect, local county commissioners say. 

The commissioners said Jackson County Clerk Kathy Mick developed a formula to determine how much funding would be needed to sustain the county through the next five years without exceeding the tax lid, which would require a public vote.

Mick and the commissioners say that the 3.783 mill increase is expected to establish a level of county funding that will adequately sustain present county services in the next five years.  

“We’re hopeful that lawmakers realize this tax lid isn’t working and repeal it,” Zwonitzer said. 

Total maximum expenditures for the county for 2017 have been set at $12,493,356, which includes $6,256,316 for the general fund, $3,357,107 for the road and bridge department and $2,421,705 for the sheriff’s office. Last year, total expenditures were set at $11,427,841, which is a difference of $1.06 million.

With the proposed budget, the county expects to collect $8,404,549 in local taxes, which is up $732,718 from last year’s total of $7,671,831.

For a home valued at $100,000, an additional $43.50 in taxes would be collected with the mill levy increase, it was reported.

The commissioners said that Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse will be utilizing more of the revenue generated by the Jackson County Jail to fund his departments, which will help save the county one mill.

The county’s assessed valuation continues to grow and has been set at $108,275,877, which is up $4,377,716 from last year’s $103,898,161. In 2015, the county’s valuation was set at $99,241,720.

One mill of the proposed 3.783 mill increase will be used to purchase and haul rock for county roads over the next five years, it was reported. There is no longer a rock quarry in Jackson County so the county has to budget funds to have a company haul rock to the county. 

“The new county shop has nothing to do with this mill increase,” Commissioner Bill Elmer said.  

The five-year plan includes maintaining, as well as updating, the county’s current fleet of road and bridge equipment

“We have every intention to maintain our equipment schedule,” Elmer said. “We want to take care of what we have.”

Due to likely increases in insurance through the next five years, the commissioners have budgeted to give each county employee a $100 increase next year with $50 increases each in the remaining four years. 

“This is to help county employees offset the cost of unknown increases in insurance,” Zwonitzer said. 

The commissioners have not budgeted an increase in their own salaries, it was reported.

Several personnel additions and changes are also being factored into the budget, the commissioners said. 

Two new positions are being added to the Jackson County Attorney’s office, an administrative assistant position and an additional attorney.

According to information provided to the commissioners by Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller, the attorney’s office prosecuted 282 misdemeanor cases, 911 traffic cases, 62 child in need of care cases, 77 juvenile offender cases and 232 felony cases in 2015.

Jackson County prosecuted 123 cases involving drivers under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs in 2015, which was more than the DUI cases prosecuted in Jefferson, Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee counties combined, it was reported.

The state has also mandated that the county attorney’s office file all documents electronically, which takes employees up to an hour per case to enter into the system, Zwonitzer said. 

The commissioners have also agreed to revert back to having just one director for the road and bridge department. Eric Fritz and Earl Bahret have been serving as co-directors since September 2013. Fritz and Bahret will revert back to foremen or they can apply for the single director position.

“They’ve done a tremendous job, but there’s just a lot to do and we’ve spread them too thin,” Zwonitzer said. “They need to be out on our 800 miles of roads and taking care of them instead of in the office.”

The commissioners say the new tax lid has been a burden when planning next year’s budget, and they claim it’s inequitable between counties. 

“Some counties around us, like Nemaha and Brown county, may not have to increase their mill levy because they have township road systems, which are not subject to the tax lid,” Zwonitzer said. “It’s not a fair tax lid because every county does business differently.”

With a township road system, rock and equipment are budgeted by township based on recommendations from township board members. Township mill levies are not affected by the tax lid, it was reported. 

The commissioners said they are hoping the tax lid is repealed in the near future, and if it is, the county mill levy could be decreased in subsequent years. 

“I don’t think our state legislators took into consideration what the tax lid is going to do to the counties,” Elmer said. “They don’t know what it takes to run a county.”

Despite the tax lid on counties and cities, the state will still collect 1.5 mills of each county’s total valuation, it was reported.

“They haven’t changed that,” Zwonitzer said. “They don’t have a lid.”

The commissioners have included $20,000 in the budget in case a special election is needed in the next five years to raise the mill levy higher than the Consumer Price Index. 

“We’re doing what we feel is needed for the next five years,” Commissioner Rob Ladner said.

The county does not have any outstanding indebtedness. 

The public hearing date for the proposed budget has been set for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6, on the second floor of the Jackson County Courthouse.

The public notice for the proposed budget is printed on page 11 in this edition of The Holton Recorder

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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