New sales tax begins to flow into Ellis County coffers

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

The Ellis County Commission got its first look at the first full month of revenue from the new sales tax at their meeting on Monday evening.

In December, the county received $131,439.50 from sales tax collections. The collections are believed to be from October 2013 but because the state treasurer’s office did not clarify the collection period, the Ellis County Treasurer is going verify dates for the tax collections.

The new 0.5 percent sales tax was approved by voters in May to fund a series of building renovations.

After rejecting all bids for both the EMS/Rural Fire Building and the remodeling of the Administrative Center at 718 Main, the commission continues to look for ways to cut costs. County Administrator Greg Sund said the county is looking to cut about $450,000 from each project.

The lowest bid for the EMS/Rural Fire Building was $3.9 million; the county’s goal was between $3.5 million and 3.6 million. County officials had estimated the cost of the remodel at 718 Main to be approximately $700,000. The lowest base bid was for $944,000.

The commission tentatively has set up a conference call with the architect Friday to discuss the costs of the EMS/Rural Fire Building project.

Sund said he is in the process of setting up a regular bi-weekly meeting for the stakeholders to finalize the plans on the courthouse/law enforcement center project.

After the retirement of Ellis County Appraiser Dean Denning, the commission approved a resolution appointing Lisa Ree as his replacement for remainder of the four-year term approved for Denning in June.

In other business, the commission:

• Approved Public Works staff and equipment to help the city of Ellis clean trees from the Big Creek Channel in Ellis, but asked the city of Ellis reimburse the county for time and the use of equipment for no more than $3,042.38.

• Voted to release funds held in an escrow account established prior to construction of the ITC Great Plains transmission line through Ellis County.

• Approved allowing the county appraiser to spend up to $27,000 from the equipment replacement reserve to purchase a new FileSafe filing system. Denning had recommended the purchase because the existing system is in poor condition and it might not make the move to the 718 Main building.