Barton Community College will request more local tax dollars next year but will cut the mill levy to the lowest it has been since 2005, based on action taken Tuesday by the BCC Board of Trustees.
“You’re going to see a reduction in the mill levy,” board chairman Mike Johnson said. The tax rate has been between 30 and 34 mills most years since 1997, hitting a high of 34.669 mills in 1999, and has only been under 30 mills for four of those years. In 2005, the mill levy was 28.136.
Only since 2021 has the college had to show a Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR), the mill levy designed to bring in the same amount of tax dollars as the year before.
Published budget
The college’s current mill levy is 30.081. The board considered two options for the published budget, presented by Vice President of Administration Mark Dean.
Option A, which was not chosen, would have reduced the mill levy to the RNR of 27.959, down from 30.081 last year. The change is because Barton County’s estimated valuation increased approximately $31.9 million this past year, mainly due to increases in real estate and oil/gas valuations. Dean said this was “probably the largest increase in valuation I have seen.”
Chairman Johnson, noting the board has traditionally attempted to hold the mill rate at about the same level from year to year, expressed concern that this year’s exceptionally large valuation increase may be followed by a decrease next year. Part of the increase is due to the $70 oil valuation and Johnson noted that Kansas Crude currently sells for $60.
Dean also called this year’s increase in valuation “huge,” so that could change next year.
Option B, the one approved, includes a mill levy of 29.380. This lowers the mill levy from last year but is above the RNR. It will generate approximately $9.5 million in local taxes, about $434,000 more than last year, Dean said, “splitting the difference between what we were last year and the RNR this year.”
Action taken by the board on Tuesday was to approve the official publication of the proposed budget, with the announcement that a public RNR hearing and a budget hearing are set for 4 p.m. Aug. 22 in Room F-30 of the Fine Arts Building on campus.
Operational budget
The board also approved the Fiscal Year 24 Operational Budget using the estimated tax revenue from the published budget. It increases revenue by $2,107,704 over last year’s operational budget.
The budget increases expenditures by $1,980,707 over last year’s operational budget.
Barton ended FY23 with a deficit of $1,116,426, which was taken from cash reserves. This deficit was expected and was the result of various changes that occurred throughout the year.
“There are a lot of inflationary increases,” Dean noted.
Next year’s budget also predicts $1.1 million more in expenditures than revenue.
“Hopefully, we won’t use the full $1.1 million deficit next year,” Dean said. Higher enrollment would be one way to increase income.
Trustee Gary Burke commented that summer enrollment is up this year and asked why that is. Vice President of Instruction Elaine Simmons said summer enrollment is up on campus and it is up quite a bit online, “which we love,” but she couldn’t pinpoint the cause or say whether this trend will continue.
“We’re still trying to figure it out — while we’re celebrating,” she said.
Athletic insurance approved
In other business Tuesday, the trustees approved quotes for general athletic insurance and catastrophic coverage for the next year. They accepted the low quote from IMA, using carrier Great American Insurance, for $62,000. Dean noted that athletic insurance increased in price based on last year’s claims. Last year the college was insured through Cypress Risk Management for a total cost of $56,538.
