The county questions
Larie Schoap
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
I ENCOURAGE all voters to vote YES on Questions 1 and 2. Why?
1. Expand the commission districts from three to five. What if the question was to reduce the size of your school board from seven to three? More eyes on a problem, more minds set on solutions results in a stronger commission.
2. We have superintendents for our school districts, a city manager for Emporia and an administrator for our hospital. The only major organization that does not have a chief executive is Lyon County. Seems like a logical step.
3. Costs — $235,000 was added to the 2007 budget to fund the two ballot initiatives if passed. Let us look at actual costs. The Finney County administrator has a budget of $193,300 for his office. It includes the administrator’s salary and benefits, an HR director (Lyon County has one already) and an executive assistant (Lyon County has one as well for the commissioners). The Butler County administrator’s contract has a salary of $76,875 plus a car allowance, a laptop and cell phone plus standard health insurance. Neither county provides a secretary for their commissioners nor a personal office for commissioners as Lyon County does now. The current secretary for the commissioners could work for the administrator, who could use one of the commissioners’ offices. Each commissioner now receives a salary of $15,600 per year plus benefits. Therefore, with two additional commissioners we would look at another $31,200 in salary plus benefits. If both questions pass, Lyon County could spend $150,000 or less to make the changes. Spending about 1 percent of the $11 million of county taxes levied by the county for stronger decision-making and professional management seems like a good decision.
Vote YES. Your vote can make a difference for all Lyon County residents. Thank you.
Larie Schoap
Emporia
under_score (anonymous) says...
$150,000 is a lot when it is completely unnecessary.
November 1, 2006 at 7:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )