A Lyon County commissioner said Thursday that those advocating changing the structure of county government don’t have their facts straight.
“They are apparently ignorant of the proposal — Steve (Sauder) and the Chamber — of the budgeting process,” Myron VanGundy told KVOE during an interview Thursday. “There are no two county budgets that you can just lay side to side and compare. There are so many things that affect — the mill levy is the lesser. That’s one of the results of the dollar budget and the valuation.”
But, Sauder told The Gazette, he stands by his numbers.
“I think my numbers are accurate,” he said. “We’ve got to change something. I think the only chance we have to lower our county taxes ... is to hire a county administrator.”
Sauder said he acquired the numbers through official channels.
“As far as the numbers that I have been using in my commentary, they came from the county clerk at the annual budget for the county,” he said. “The one that was submitted by the state and certified by the state. I verified those numbers with Bobbie Agler who is the consultant for the county.”
Jeanine McKenna, executive director of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce, said this morning that she agrees with Sauder.
“I’m very confident in the information that we’re giving out,” McKenna said. “We feel very confident and stand by our numbers... It’s disappointing that they felt (VanGundy) had to state that we were incorrect.”
VanGundy aired some of his complaints at a public comment session in Thursday’s county commission meeting. The time is usually set aside for citizens to talk to commissioners. VanGundy told those present — including reporters for The Gazette and KVOE — that he was responding to articles that had appeared in the paper and on radio about the ballot issues.
“I take a little offense at the articles from both of these sources,” VanGundy said. “Apparently their knowledge of county budgets is very little. They either don’t understand it or they’re intentionally twisting the facts.”
The pieces VanGundy referred to included a Wednesday radio editorial by Steve Sauder called “Something to Think About.” In it, Sauder commented that Lyon County property taxes were 15 mills above the average of 10 comparable counties. Both Sauder and Gazette Publisher Chris Walker in a separate editorial argued that hiring a county administrator could increase efficiency and lower the tax levy.
VanGundy agreed that the levy was high but argued that other counties had other funding sources to keep the rates lower. In Ford County, a county referenced by Sauder, VanGundy said the county budget includes $1.3 million in revenue that is not linked to property taxes. This includes $241,000 in lieu of tax payment, a $290,000 communications reimbursement from Dodge City and $775,000 from a sales and use tax.
That’s also true for cities with lower property tax rates such as Emporia itself, Sauder said in his editorial. Emporia has a mill levy of 40.956 for 2007 compared to Lyon County’s 51 mills.
“Yes, they are (lower) and I can tell you why,” VanGundy said. “This year they are going to have about $4 million in sales tax.”
In terms of the total level of taxes, VanGundy said, Lyon County was about in the middle. He also asked what exactly the efficiency proponents wanted to cut.
“(Steve Sauder) says there’s fat in the budget and there probably is in some places, but it’s not very much,” VanGundy said. “What does he want us to cut out? Does he want us to cut out the Council on Aging? Does he want us to cut back on law enforcement?”
Comments that the county budget was in a bad state, he said, were “a shot right at the commission.”
“That’s why I feel the commission should have an answer on it,” he said.
VanGundy continued: “If I thought a county administrator and five commissioners was the cost-effective thing to do, I’d vote for it. But I remember, back early on, when the county hired a finance manager. He was the same as a county administrator. He was over all the budgets and everything. And that’s when things got out of hand.
“They were grabbing money from everywhere to cover their losses.”