The Great Bend Recreation Commission board took steps Monday to remain competitive in the local job market, passing a resolution to increase the commission’s maximum budget authority for future budget years from 7.0 mills to 8.0 mills.

The maximum budget authority, a budget item unique to recreation commissions in Kansas, is the maximum number of mills the commission is allowed to levy each year. Rec commissions, Executive Director Diann Henderson said, must pass a resolution to set a maximum mill levy each year,

The commission has operated with a maximum budget authority of 7.0 mills since 2013 and will also levy 7.0 mills for the 2021-2022 budget, which was approved for certification Monday. She noted the Rec Commission is the only local taxing entity that has not increased its mill levy over that period. The goal, she said, has always to operate with sound fiscal responsibility.

“Our strategy has always been to use our cash reserves to fill in the gaps in our budget, so we could keep moving forward at the same level,” she said.

The commission, she noted, typically operates on its cash reserves from the beginning of the budget year on July 1, through the end of the calendar year, until it receives its allotted tax revenue each year in January. This year, GBRC will receive its first tax distribution in September. With this, even in budgeting for unexpected emergencies, she said the commission has been able to operate during that time on the existing maximum mill levy.

However, this year the commission faced a perfect storm of rising costs across the board, as well as decreases in revenue, due both to COVID-19 closures as well as decreased property valuations off of which the mill levy is based. Unlike many government agencies, she said, the rec commission did not receive any COVID-19 relief funding to offset the revenue losses in incurred.

Like many agencies, the commission has faced increased operating costs in many areas, including materials and commodities, but the most significant cost increase has been in personnel, through the retention and recruitment of employees.

“I think we’ve all seen it across our community, and across our state, employees (right now) are hard to find,” she told the board.

Currently, the Rec employs nine full-time administrative staff, as well as 165 part-time and seasonal staff, which includes game officials for athletic programs, instructors for fitness and activity programs and other part-time positions. The Rec also oversees more than 200 volunteer coaches for its sports programs.

Like many employers, the Rec is currently experiencing vacancies and unfilled positions. Staff is currently stretched to the point where administrative staff is stepping in to perform additional duties.

In July, the board approved a 3% cost-of-living wage adjustment for its full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees, for the upcoming budget year, an overall increase of approximately $39,257. Particularly with part-time employees, who typically make lower hourly wages, though, Henderson does not feel it will allow the Rec to remain competitive with other area employers in recruiting and retaining employees over the long-term. 

The goal in increasing the maximum mill levy is to develop a long-term strategy allowing the commission to maintain more competitive wage base, something she said is unfeasible at the current mill levy rate.

“I think we need to give ourselves the tools to be able to move forward and fund those type of investments in our employees,” she said.

She noted, however, increasing the maximum budget authority does not mean the mill levy will necessarily increase to that rate. It does, however, allow the board additional flexibility to budget more toward personnel costs, in particular to more significant wage increases in future years than it is able to do under the current mill levy.

Board member Sue Cooper said she would like to see the wages of the lower-paid part-time staff addressed first and foremost.

“To make sure we can get some of those (part-time) positions filled, and be able to retain them, that would be great,” Cooper said.