After a 90-minute public hearing that involved a packed chamber, a sharply divided Barton County Commission approved the 2014 budget as it was published.
The majority of those present for the hearing spoke on behalf of the Extension Council which had a shade over $24,000 cut from its request and wanted the funding restored. Also discussed was the $5,000 cut to the money allocated to Sunflower Diversified Services for its early childhood program.
The spending package includes a .75 mill increase for the 2014 budget aimed at making the county’s mill rate more consistent, a goal of the Commission. In the budget, the mill rate goes from 34.865 mills to 35.615.
Total expenditures, less transfers, comes to $18,770,857. Last year, the total was $18,183,738.
 The cash at-hand dropped from $3,764,035.52 in 2009 to $2,026,136 in 2012. This was due to tapping reserves in lieu of raising the mill levy, done because of the stagnating national economy.
However, “this is not sustainable,” said County Administrator Richard Boeckman of the use of reserves.
Commissioners upped the property tax rate from 32.099 in 2012 to 34.865 last year to start to offset this decline. Higher property valuation in Barton County for  2014 will help continue this trend.
One mill is equal to $1 of tax per $1,000 of property valuation. Due to a valuation increase, each mill this year yields $273,000. There is an estimated valuation increase of $,679,242, which results in increased revenue of approximately $163,141.
The property tax accounts for 50.5 percent of the county’s revenue. Other taxes, such as sales tax, and services provided by county departments make up the rest.
“We were very deliberate in the budget process,” said Commissioner Jennifer Schartz. The effort took two months.
“I know the faces out there,” she said, adding that makes approving the cuts difficult. “I know how the people being cut feel.”
But, she said, she has to represent the majority of the county’s taxpayers.
Commissioner Kenny Schremmer, however, opposed the budget as stated due to the Extension Council reductions. “It’s for the people out there,” he said of the council’s services.
As for the increase in total spending authority (which goes up $205,007), the money will go into the capital improvement and equipment replacement funds. The county has no debt, and these funds will help the county make purchases without borrowing money.
However, “the county shouldn’t be in the banking business,” said Commissioner Homer Kruckenberg. For this reason, he could not support a mill increase.
So, when the final vote was taken, Schartz joined Commission Chairman Don Cates and Commissioner Don Davis in voting “yes.” Kruckenberg and Schremmer voted “no.”
Commissioners left open the possibility of revisiting the budgets next year. They could look at moving money from other funds to make up shortfalls.
The proposed budget calls for a 4.41 percent increase in general fund spending and an across-the-board 25 cents-per-hour increase in wages (slightly higher for the Barton County Sheriff’s Office). It also includes the elimination of the County Records Department, with the duties spread among other offices (this meant a net loss of one position, but both employees have found other county jobs).
Most accounts under the general fund will remain unchanged. Some will see a slight increase and others a decrease.

The hearing
“This has been a challenging budget year for the commissioners,” Boeckman said in his explanation of the spending package. Most of the agencies supported by the county fall under the “finance general” account in the general fund.
“The commissioners have many discretionary decisions to make,” he said. The county is only mandated by the state to fund a fair board and an extension council.
During the hearing, the first to speak on behalf of the Extension Council was Kevin Bahr, the council’s vice chairman. “When I think of extension, I think of big, I think life-shaping.”
There are programs for youth, such as 4-H, that promote strong work ethics and leadership. There are programs for senior citizens that help promote healthy lifestyles.
 Council Secretary Alicia Straub touched on the family and consumer science aspects of the organization that benefit all county residents. “These are the hows and whys for daily life.”
The council will see a 10 percent cut to $180,000. For 2014, it had requested $204,250, but the commission voted to draw $24,250 from the council’s reserves.
 This equalled what the council wanted, but it had not wanted to use the $24,000. That money had remained in reserves after 2013 due to a period when an extension agent position remained empty.
So, she said, there was a more compelling reason for the funding – the state statute that requires it. Straub likened the council to a municipal government not unlike the commission.
The commission must, she said, provide the money. But, it has no control over how the council spends the money and can’t ask for it back.
Basically, Straub said, by requiring the use of the reserves, the commission is taking money away.
Schartz took issue with this interpretation. She said they weren’t wanting anything back, just to have it spent before more was allocated.
As for Sunflower, Sunflower Diversified Board member Julie Spray said the early childhood program, which serves kids birth through age 3, is crucial. It even helped her son.
She presented a petition with over 300 signatures from county residents supporting the non-profit agency.
Sunflower’s funding is $15,000 for 2014, down $5,000 from 2013. The commission plans to reduce funding $5,000 each year until the agency receives no more county money.
Sunflower, which covers five counties, received $50,000 from Barton County in 2010, but that was totally eliminated in the 2011 budget. This was at a time when the economy was floundering and the Commission eyed ways to cut spending and keep the tax burden low.
However, the Commission had second thoughts and restored the funding to $25,000 in 2012. Following the planned path, the total was $20,000 in 2013.
“I appreciate the position you find yourselves in,” Sunflower Executive Director Jim Johnson said. But, he was still concerned and disappointed with the decision.
Sunflower’s total budget is about $5.5 million, but about two thirds comes from Medicaid. Of that, 8 percent goes to early childhood.
Other counties in Sunflower’s service area have not cut funding, Johnson said.