By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission and Commissioner Barb Wasinger have seen a number of changes in the past four years, but Wasinger says she’d “like to do more.”
Wasinger is seeking re-election to the District 2 county commission seat and faces Al Ackerman in the Aug. 2 primary.
She was the first woman elected to the county commission in 2012 after serving a number of years on the Hays City Commission.
Wasinger said the county has accomplished a lot of the past four years, with passing of the sales tax and finishing construction on the Emergency Service building and the remodel of the jail and courthouse, as well the taking over the former Commerce Bank building on Eighth Street and turning that into the County Administration building.
“I can walk away from that and be very proud that we were able to complete those projects and get all that done,” said Wasinger.
She also said the projects coming in close to budget is “great news.”
Wasinger said some of the discussions with the builder and the architects in executive session with county counselor were among the reasons they were able to come in so close to the $14.3 million budget.
“There were a lot of things that were happening behind the scenes,” Wasinger said. “Things that were more involved with our attorney.”
With the population of the county staying relatively steady, Wasinger said the county must continue to work to maintain the “excellent level of service” Ellis County has provided in its history, but she said it’s a balancing act.
“You try to make sure you’re maintaining roads and keeping services for your citizens while keeping the budget down,” Wasinger said.
Facing a potential $3.7 million budget deficit, the commission called on county departments to find areas to cut their budgets, and Wasinger said she is proud of how staff worked together to balance the budget.
“We really have watched our dollars and cents all year trying to make sure we didn’t overspend at all,” she said.
After raising the mill levy slightly for the 2016 budget, the commission and Wasinger were committed to not raising the levy for fiscal year 2017.
“As a government … we exist for our taxpayers and not the other way around,” said Wasinger. “It’s balancing tax dollars and what you take from taxpayers and making sure that you give them the services that they are needing.”
While the county deals with the drop in oil valuation in the struggling agriculture economy, the state is also dealing with its own budget issues. Wasinger said the county is going to get less help from the state for things like roads and bridges.
“The next four years will be trying to figure out how to fix our bridges and maintain our roads and do things with less,” she added. “I think I’ve proven in the last four years it’s something I can do and something I have done.”
Wasinger said she would also like to continue improving teamwork among all county employees, something County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes is focusing on.
“I’m not sure prior to Phill being there and having someone there every day who wants to coordinate everything and make it more of a team effort, it wasn’t moving forward like we would’ve liked it too be.”
She also said, “It’s always been a goal for me is that we all work as one Ellis County.”