Barton Community College intends to publish a revenue-neutral budget for 2026-2027. The published budget and next year’s operational budget will be approved at the July 28 meeting; they were reviewed Tuesday at a board study session.
Vice President of Administration Mark Dean said the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) is the estimated mill levy that will raise the same amount of tax dollars as the previous year. The RNR rate for FY27 was provided by Barton County on June 15 and is 26.909, Dean reported.
Barton’s current mill levy is 27.206.
“The intent is to remain revenue-neutral,” Dean said. “This should generate slightly less tax dollars than what were requested last year. Because the RNR is based on an estimated valuation, there is always the chance that the certified valuation could increase or decrease (adjusting the RNR rate – but not the tax dollars received).”
Barton County’s estimated valuation increased approximately $3,891,519 this past year, mainly due to increases in real estate and utilities.
After it is approved, the proposed budget will be published as a legal notification in the Great Bend Tribune. That notice will state that a public budget hearing is set for 4 p.m. on Aug. 24 in Room F-30 of the Fine Arts Building.
Raises for employees
The trustees were given three options for the operational budget. The only difference is the increase in pay for staff. The options are increases of 3%, 4.5% or 6%.
“Wage increases were not provided for employees last year and currently we are 9% below market value,” Dean said.
The proposed operational budget increases revenues by more than $2 million and increases expenditures between $902,542 and $1.4 million over last year’s budget, depending on the size of the raises. Each of the options will require the college to dip into reserve funds – anywhere from $165,698 to $671,187.
“Of course, this will depend on enrollment growth and responsible spending throughout the year,” Dean said.
It also depends on whether the Kansas Legislature cuts funding again this year, Barton President Dr. Marcus Garstecki said. He praised past efforts to maintain services with limited resources, including starting the 2025-2026 year with 15 fewer employees. “Our faculty and staff did a wonderful job.”
Trustee Dale Maneth asked why the published budget always shows a greater amount of budget authority than the college intends to spend. Dean and board chairman Mike Johnson said the large “budget authority” would allow the college to deal with an unexpected event, such as a tornado doing major damage to buildings, without republishing the budget. However, the actual expenditures are shown on the budget and remain mostly the same from year to year.
“That (larger) number does not affect the tax rate, Dale,” Johnson said.
“The issue for me is we have gotten to the point where we expect the county (taxpayers) to pick up the difference,” Maneth said. “The county’s become the Staples ‘Easy Button’ in my mind because it’s the last thing – we set our tuition, we go through all of the processes, and then this is the last thing we do. And I realize the calendar works that way, and I’m not trying to be argumentative; I promise I’m not, but I think there’s a delineation in my perspective and what’s tradition.”
“I’m very proud of the fact that we have been able, since 2013, to hold our revenue increase to 7%,” Johnson said. “I think we’ve done an excellent job of not just carte blanche raising taxes because we needed to.”
Note: This article contains corrections. See below:
Correction: BCC has held tax increases to 7% since 2013
Two typographical errors in the story “BCC offering raises with no new taxes” (Thursday, July 16), misrepresented the facts about the Barton Community College budget.
First, the story should have reported that a line that will appear in the college’s published budget will NOT affect the mill levy. This is the line that describes the college’s maximum budget authority, not what it actually plans to spend.
The second error misstated by a decade the number of years that Barton had kept local property taxes from increasing significantly. College officials report: “Slight fluctuations occur due to using the estimated valuations during the published budget process, as well as pending oil and real estate exemptions that may or may not be approved after the budget is completed. This change in the mill levy/valuation has increased tax revenue by 7% since 2013, while inflation in the same period has increased by 40%.” By mistakenly reporting the year 2023 instead of 2013, the story shortened the timeframe by 10 years.
