By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission held its first budget meeting Thursday as commissioners look to 2018.
At Thursday’s special meeting at the County Emergency Services building, the commission discussed funding requests from 14 outside agencies, capital projects and funding for eight departments and they made it clear their focus on children and prevention services.
Outside agencies that receive funding from Ellis County submitted their funding requests to the county commission at Monday’s regular commission meeting.
“I will reiterate what I said last year,” Commissioner Barb Wasinger said. “We need to concentrate on health services for the children of the community, our mental health center, developmental services.”
The commission agreed to fund the majority of the agencies at the same level as 2017 but elected to increase funding for High Plains Mental Health Systems by $10,000 to $280,000. Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas would see a slight increase in funding to $240,000 and so would Hays Area Children’s Center to $135,000.
“I know High Plains Mental Health does a lot for our community, adults and children alike and so with Developmental Services and Hays Area Children’s Center,” said Commissioner Dean Haselhorst.
The commission will also fully fund the Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center for $9,000 for a second consecutive year and for the first time fund CASA of the High Plains for $5,000.
The major exception to the funding remaining flat or even some agencies seeing a small increase is the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development. The commission agreed on cutting funding for the organization in half, from the $47,550 request to $23,775.
Wasinger, who proposed the cut, said, “There have been things that we have asked for that have been neglected.”
At an earlier joint meeting with the Hays City Commission, members of both commissions expressed concern with the size of the of the coalition’s 20-plus member board.
At Monday’s meeting, during their budget request coalition board Chairman Darren O’Connor told the commission they are aiming to get the board members more involved instead of cutting the number.
“We can set aside money for economic development to use for certain projects that they request from the county to help offset from the county any kind of TIF or STAR bond,” said Wasinger. “Or anything else that is going on that impacts us.”
The first eight county departments also presented their budgets to the commission at Thursday’s meeting.
Road and Bridge, the Sheriff’s Department and Emergency Medical Services all had increases of more than $100,000.
The Sheriff’s Department budget also includes jail expenses now. According to Sheriff Ed Harbin, they have been spending $15,000 per month to pay to house inmates out of county. They budgeted $140,000 to house inmates out of county.
The jail houses 72 inmates, but officials are often forced to house inmates at other locations depending on the population. If there are not enough women to fill a jail pod, they will house them out of county. They are also forced to house transgender inmates at other facilities because they cannot be house with the general population
“Can’t you inform them what gender they are when they show up?” Commissioner Dean Haselhorst asked Harbin during the discussion.
“You have a taser and a gun. I think you have some influence,” he said.
Haselhorst also said, “If they are confused what gender they are, you throw them in that population. They’ll get it figured out.”
Rural Fire has proposed a 10-percent increase in their budget from 2017. Director of Fire and Emergency Management Darin Myers told the commission that last year was the busiest year they have had and, so far this year, they have seen an increase of 25 percent over the same time period.
Rural Fire is its own taxing entity for the unincorporated areas of the county, and the commission talked about raising its mill levy as a way to increase funding. The current mill is 3.314 and the commission and Myers agreed that an increase of six-tenths of a mill would be sufficient.
The commission also budgeted $490,000 capital improvements in 2018. That includes $300,000 for a boiler, chiller and ductwork at the Law Enforcement center, $100,000 for remodeling the parking lot at 718 Main St. and $55,712 to remodel the newly purchase Health Department building at 2507 Canterbury.
The commission will have another budget meeting on June 29 to finishing hearing the rest of the departments budgets.