By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

The Ellis County Commission will lay out its budget priorities at a special meeting Monday afternoon.

The commission will discuss the possibility of a 1-percent sales tax increase to help fund road maintenance in the county.

In his memo to the commission, Ellis County Administrator Greg Sund said, due to the expected reduction in oil and gas production taxes because of the drop in oil prices, he believes it is a good time to talk about the increase.

The sales tax increase could help fund the more than 1,340 miles of Ellis County roads.

According to Sund, in recent years, the county generated approximately $3.3 million from the Oil and Gas Production Property Tax.

The increase would not go into effect until after the current half-cent sales tax sunsets in 2018 or when the county pays off the construction of the EMS/Rural Fire Building, Law Enforcement Center and courthouse.

The special meeting begins at 1 p.m. Monday at the Administrative Building at 718 Main. The first regular meeting of February is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday night at the Administrative Building.

In the regular meeting, the commission also will discuss a proposal to construct a suspended ceiling at the Administrative Center in the space left by removing the center stairwell from the basement to the first floor.

The commission is also set to discuss the conditional-use permit with Hays Wind LLC.

Currently, there is a stay order on the permit and the commission asked to have a lawyer begin paperwork to lift the stay order. If it is lifted the clock on the permit will begin again. If the company does not take action, the permit will expire.