By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

The general fund mill levy is not expected to increase under a proposed 2017 Ellis County budget.

The Ellis County Commission held a final budget work session Thursday to discuss eight more department budgets. The rest of the departments presented their budget proposals to the commission at a prior meeting.

Department heads were instructed by the commission to cut their 2017 budgets by 3 percent from the previous year in an effort to close a close to $3.7 million shortfall.

Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes told the commission, under the current budget proposal, the general fund mil levy will remain the same as the 2016 fiscal year, 36.561.

Most of the departments reached or exceeded the 3 percent reduction.

Rural Fire has been hit especially hard by the drop in oil prices and, because it is its own taxing entity, it will likely raise its mill levy. The increase would only affect the unincorporated areas of Ellis County and Schoenchen.

A number of the departments chose not to fill or eliminated open positions within their department as a cost-cutting measure.

One department in “desperate need” of staff is the jail, according to Undersheriff Bruce Hertel.

Sheriff Ed Harbin said they need three more jailers because the newly remodeled jail doubled the inmate population. It will cost the county $138,000, including benefits, to hire three new jail employees.

Hertel said they have been using officers off the street to fill in when needed and ,if something happens on the jail floor, they have to call in officers, even from the Hays Police Department, to respond.

When it comes to the jail budget, Commissioner Dean Haselhorst said, “We really won’t have any idea what the new jail is going to cost us until we really have it for a year.”

Smith-Hanes presented the commission with a budget that would take money from the special highway fund and the administrator’s contingency fund to pay for the three new jail employees. The commission had already committed to dramatically increase the amount of money transferred to the highway fund.

The commission also continues to be at odds with the county Treasurer Ann Pfeifer. Last year, Pfeifer filled two open positions within her department despite the commission’s telling employees to hold off on hiring employees.

Pfeifer, at a meeting last year, told the commission the two positions were in the department’s budget for 2016 and 2017 and, because she is an elected official, she has the right to run her department. The county had received complaints about the wait-times at the treasurer’s office, she said.

Commissioner Barb Wasinger again voiced he displeasure over the hirings at Thursday meeting.

“The only control we have over any other elected official, not that I want control over any other elected official, is budget,” said Wasinger, 

Wasinger added she wants to look into the issue further and see about getting more control from the commission over the hiring of employees.

Smith-Hanes said they are working to have more transparency on all department positions.

“The problem is that when you are an elected official and you have a budget,” Wasinger said, “it was made clear to us at that meeting that you can spend anything you want too.”

Commissioner Dean Haselhorst also questioned Pfeifer on the need for nine full-time and one part-time employee.

“I know Russell County is a lot smaller than you,” said Haselhorst “but they also do driver licenses transactions and all that good stuff with four employees.”

Pfeifer said because the population difference is so much greater, “even if there’s not taxpayers in front of us, there is still work to be done.”

Ellis County’s population is more than four times the size of Russell County.

Smith-Hanes said the nearly 5 percent reduction in the treasurer’s budget from last year was among the largest of all departments.

He also said the county staffing levels are “pretty minimal” and said departments need to be able to fill the positions allocated to them and said “the idea of a freeze needs to thaw.”

The county previously combined the county health department and emergency medical services and the emergency management department with rural fire to save a significant amount of money.

County Appraiser Lisa Ree said she eliminated one position from her department and said, because they have fewer employees than similarly sized counties and they are dealing with shorter deadlines, they could have a difficult time meeting those.

Smith-Hanes will present the commission with the budget proposal at the July 11 meeting.