On July 15, the Barton County Commission approved for publication a 2014 operating budget that included .75 mill increase.
The plan, which is up for a public hearing at 9 a.m. Monday, calls for a slight increase in total expenditures of $18,770,857, compared to $18,183,738 in 2013. It includes raises for county employees, but also includes cuts to some services.
One of those cuts impacts Sunflower Diversified Services, which will see a $5,000 reduction under the spending package.
Sunflower Executive Director Jim Johnson was at the July 15 meeting and expressed disappointment in the action. He plans on attending the hearing Monday at the courthouse with a petition to restore the funds.
“We just want them to revisit their position on the cuts,” Johnson said Friday. “It’s pretty mild mannered.”
Basically, it states that services for children with disabilities are important. Sunflower is the only agency in Barton County that offers services for kids birth to age 3.
If it holds, the cut would bring Sunflower’s funding to $15,000 for 2014. The Commission plans to reduce funding $5,000 each year until the agency receives no more county money.
Sunflower received $50,000 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, fearing that was too sudden and drastic of a cut, and restored the funding to $25,000 in 2012.
Following the planned path, the total was $20,000 in 2013.
There were fewer than 200 signatures on the petition, Johnson said. The three- or four-day drive wasn’t very aggressive, and they approached families of clients, business people and Sunflower supporters.
In addition to the county funding, the agency receives money from state and federal sources. It covers a five-county area and Johnson said the other four counties are not planning to cut their support.
Sure, Sunflower gets other financial backing. But, Johnson said feds look at local support when determining their contributions.
“I know what the Commission is up against,”Johnson said. They will accept whatever decision is reached.
If commissioners have their minds made up this year, he said perhaps they could reconsider next year’s reduction.
In addition to the Sunflower petition, Southwest Developmental Services Inc. funding is on the agenda for Monday’s meeting. SDSI is the Community Developmental Disability Organization for Barton County. Under the 2014 service agreement, SDSI will provide all services required by Kansas statutes for a CDDO for a total of $80,000.

Another budget request
Representatives of the Barton County Extension Council may also be present to seek reinstatement of funding. Under the proposed budget, the council will see a 10 percent cut to $180,000.
The council’s Reva Dougherty was at the July 15 meeting arguing for the funding.
The Barton County Extension Council will be funded for 2014 at the level it requested, but the total it will receive from the county was less than it had asked for. The Commission voted to draw $24,250 from the council’s reserves.
The council had sought $204,250 in county support. But the Commission offered the $180,000 to compliment the reserve money.