By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Even though the Ellis County Commission got some good news Monday with an expected increase in assessed valuation and the possibility of lower than expected employee health insurance costs, the commission is still working to trim the proposed 2020 budget.
In the 2019 budget year, the commission provided $1.053 to 20 outside agencies but facing projected shortfalls in the coming years the commission expressed their desire to cut spending.
At Monday’s meeting, the commission went through each agency and came up with a total of $928,800 for outside agencies in the 2020 budget. That is a cut of $124,200 from the previous year.
At a meeting earlier this month, 16 agencies presented their requests for a total of $1.073 million.
| Agency | 2020 Funding (Proposed) | 2019 Funding |
| High Plains Mental Health | $260,000 | $281,646 |
| Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas | $216,000 | $240,00 |
| Hays Area Children Center | $120,000 | $135,000 |
| Senior Agencies – (made up of 6 agencies) | $112,750 | $132,048 |
| Ellis County Historical Society | $72,250 | $96,797 |
| Ellis County Conservation District | $55,000 | $72,646 |
| ACCESS Bus | $50,000 | $60,000 |
| Grow Hays | $27,500 | $0 |
| Northwest Kansas Planning | $22,500 | $38,877 |
| Western Kansas Child Advocacy | $4,500 | $9,000 |
| CASA | $4,750 | $9,000 |
| Human Society | $2,600 | $4,500 |
| Ellis Alliance | $1,750 | $4,835 |
| Center for Life Experience | $1,700 | $1,000 |
| Hays Arts Council | $0 | $3,385 |
| Ellis Junior Free Fair | $0 | $3,143 |
Commissioner Dean Haselhorst said Monday it was not easy to make those cuts.
“I think we took a step in the right direction,” Haselhorst. “I had tough time cutting. … High Plains Mental Health does a lot for out county, I changed that number four times before I brought that number tonight.”
High Plains Mental Health had requested $281,646 for 2020, but the commission chose to allocate $260,000.
Almost all agencies that have received funding from the county in the past took a similar cut and Commissioner Dustin Roths again echoed his statements from earlier this year saying he hopes private donations can help support these agencies.
“I want everybody to take a hard look at this list, it’s all something that you can donate your hard earned money to and we don’t have to collect it through taxpayer money,” said Roths.
Haselhorst also suggested he would be willing to help with a fundraiser with High Plains Mental Health in the future.
“I do appreciate everything all the outside agencies do for our county,” Haselhorst said.
The commission also restored $3,200 in funding for the Register of Deeds office for salaries in 2020. Registrar Rebecca Herzog had previously cut salary for her department to meet the commission request that each department cut 1.5 percent from 2019. Changes in health insurance costs will pay for the restored funds.
They also restored funding for the clerk’s office to keep a three-quarter-time position in 2020 instead of reducing that person to just half-time.
They also budgeted for a part-time position to be restored in the Health Department.
County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes told the commission the county’s total assessed valuation is up about 3.6 percent as compared to November of last year.
But under the tax lid the county can only raise the amount of property tax revenue that is collected by about 2.7 percent. Smith-Hanes said with the assessed values going up faster than the tax lid allows the county to increase the mill levy there is a slight decrease in mill levy.
It will still generate about $167,000 more than anticipated, according to Smith-Hanes.