Extension office
September 9, 2009
Brian Creager, chairman of the Lyon County extension board, will answer reader questions about the service and the proposal to combine with Chase County to form an extension district.
Moderator: Today we have with us Brian Creager, who is chairman of the Lyon County extension board. He'll answer your questions about a proposal to combine with Chase County as an extension district. Remember to refresh your screen to keep up with the discussion. You can still submit questions; we'll see whether we have time to get to them. The chat will last until 2 p.m.
moderator: Why will this proposal of combining Lyon County and Chase County extension be good for the community?
Brian Creager: Forming an Extension District will result in an increased efficiency of resources and allow for a greater effectiveness of personnel through specialization, resulting in higher quality educational programming for Lyon and Chase counties.
moderator: What is the history of the K-State Extension and what is your mission today?
Brian Creager: All universities engage in research and teaching, but the nation's more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities have a third critical mission, Extension. Extension "reaches out", by addressing public needs with university resources through non-formal, non-college credit programs. These programs are largely administered through the County Extension offices that bring land-grant university expertise to the local level. There is a long history of Extension in Kansas. In 1862, The Morrill Act was passed paving the way for a land-grant university in every state, which in Kansas is K-State. In 1887, the Kansas Agriculture Experiment Station was created at K-State under the provision of the Hatch Act. The Smith-Lever Act created the Cooperative Extension Service in 1914 and in 1951 the Kansas Legislature revised the Extension Law making the county extension program the cooperative responsibility of the county Extension Council and K-State. In 1991, the Kansas Extension District Law was passed by the state legislature which paved the way for two or more county Extension Councils to from Extension Districts. Our mission today is "Knowledge for Life". Extension plays an important role in Kansas life in rural, urban and suburban settings. Extension Agents help farmers grow crops, help families plan safe and nutritious meals, help home gardeners raise produce and help children acquire the necessary skills to become tomorrow's leaders through the 4-H program.
moderator: How do you receive funding?
Brian Creager: Extension funding comes form County, State and Federal dollars. Some programs are also being supported by grant funds as well. Here in Lyon County we receive a county appropriation from the county commissioners that makes up the majority of our annual cash operating budget. K-State currently sends a direct cash contribution of $49,426/year for salaries and if our 4-H Agent position was filled the K-State portion would be $61,100/year. K-State also provides another $137,000/year through agent benefits, the FNP Grant (used for school nutrition programs), postage, publications, Area Director support, State and Area Specialist support and internet hosting capabilities for webinars.
moderator: If this proposal passes it will give you power to levy taxes. What are your plans - will you raise taxes and if so by how much?
Brian Creager: Our current mill levy equivalent equals 1.028 or $246,870 which equals $6.98 per capita. By forming the district, the proposed mill levy equivalent would be 1.112 or $266,919 which equals $7.55 per capita. The mill levy difference equals roughly $20,000 or $.57 per capita. Since we would be our own taxing entity no longer receiving a county appropriation, this should lower the county general fund by an equivalent mill levy which translates to no significant increase in Lyon County taxes. Also, K-State would actually increase their direct cash contributions to the District as they would send an additional $30,550/year for agent salaries for the 4-H agent position in Lyon County and the Family and Consumer Sciences agent position in Chase County. We are not receiving this funding now due to the vacancies but would receive it if we formed a district.
moderator: Will this proposal combine services of the Lyon and Chase extension offices?
Brian Creager: The Extension agents and staff will be working together to provide top-notch Extension educational programming to the citizens of both Lyon and Chase counties. Each county will benefit due to increased subject matter expertise by the Extension Agents.
powercat: If you are wanting to raise taxes with this proposal what have you done to decrease your expenses?
Brian Creager: It is not our intent to raise taxes, we are just looking for a way to make our budget stable so we can plan and deliver a consistent, top notch Extension program. Under our current county appropriation structure, we are subject to perodic budget cuts which can and have made it hard to operate at times. Things we have done here in Lyon County to decrease expenses include postponing the purchase of equipment, increasing the circulation of our newsletters via e-mail which saves on postage and printing costs, printing publications as needed from the internet instead of purchasing a large supply, referring folks to publications on the internet and letting them print it at home if desired, our 4-H position has been open for over a year now which has saved on salary and benefits (although it has significantly increased the work load of current staff members), utilization of grant funds to enhance agent programming and professional development, hosting more webinars to save on travel for agents and Lyon county citizens.
quarterback: Why do you need offices in Lyon and Chase County? Would it be cheaper to just have offices in just one location to serve both counties since we are so close to each other?
Brian Creager: Our hope would be to continue utilizing the space currently provided for Extension in both counties by the commissioners. To date, all counties that have formed an Extension District in Kansas have been able to do so. We feel it is very important to keep a office in both counties for easy access to our services for the citizens of each county.
moderator: What are the rules - How does this proposal pass and how does this proposal get defeated?
Brian Creager: Both the Lyon and Chase county commission must adopt a resolution stating their intent to approve the agreement to form and Extension District. The resolution must be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in each counties official newspaper. If, within 60 days, a petition is signed by at least 5 percent of the county's qualified electors and filed with the county election officer, the board of commissioners may not approve the agreement until it is approved by a majority of qualified electors at a primary, general or special election.
quarterback: What is the timeline for your proposal?
Brian Creager: The resolution has been discussed with both the Lyon and Chase County Commissioners and copies of the proposed operational agreement have also been provided for review by the commissoners. Once the resolution is passed in each county, the agreement entered into by the parties forming the Extension District must be submitted to the state Attorney General for approval. The district becomes operational on July 1 after approval of the Attorney General. We are on track to begin operation as a district July 1, 2010, assuming that the resolution passes in both counties.
admireed: Has this been considered by any other county commissions in the state and turned down? Edward McKernan
Brian Creager: Extension District resolutions have been approved by county commissioners in around 25 counties in Kansas to date. I am not aware of any county commissions that have not passed the resolution when it was presented to them. The resolution has only been petitioned and placed on a county ballot in one county. In that case, the resolution overwhelming passed in the county election.
moderator: What else do you want people to know about your proposal?
Brian Creager: The district will be governed by four elected board members from each county. They are elected in the county general election each odd numbered year and serve a 4 year term. These board members are tax payers just like you and I and must be re-elected to continue serving on the district board. There have been 9 other Extension districts formed across Kansas with the oldest dating back to 1994. Over the history of those districts, the boards of have done a good job of keeping the mill levy steady and in many cases, they have actually been able to lower the mill levy at times. The folks that make up these boards are tax payers, and they don't want their taxes to increase anymore than you or I do. Each year the Extension District Board will develop a budget, publish it and hold a public hearing for those that have questions about the budget before the mill levy is approved. Those elected to the board are volunteers, they do not receive an payment for serving on the board. The board works with K-state to develop the budget and set staff salaries on an annual basis, just as we do now. I would encourage folks to check out the Lyon County Extension website at www.lyon.ksu.edu to learn more about what Extension has to offer. Or, feel free to stop by the County Extension Office located at 2632 W. Highway 50 in Emporia.
Moderator: That's the end of our chat today. Brian stayed a little longer to answer all the questions, and we appreciate that. We hope you've learned about the extension district proposal that's been in the news lately.