Commissioners spent most of Thursday’s Lyon County Commission meeting agonizing over the 2008 budget before next week’s final budget hearing, which is set for 10 a.m. Aug 30.
Thursday’s tweaking of the budget would lower the mill levy increase to about 1.2 mills. The budget was published Tuesday in The Gazette with a 1.594-mill increase. After publication, commissioners can lower the mill levy, but they can’t raise it.
The new figure comes after commissioners voted to fund the law enforcement budget increase at 100 percent and the jail increase at 50 percent. This figure also cuts $3,000 out of Kansas Legal Services’ budget allocation.
Commissioners again discussed the future of funding for social programs and the possibility of scaling back allocations. Commissioner Scott Briggs said cuts to social service funding would be tough (to make), but he thought, perhaps, those programs should be put on alert that funding cuts — or even complete elimination of funding with taxpayer dollars — is possible.
Bob Agler of A&M Consultants said the county needs to be prepared for the time when assessed property valuations go down.
“We had better be prepared now for what we are going to do if the assessed valuation goes down,” Agler said. “There’s only one logical (solution) in business...you cut expenses. I sincerely hope that it’s not around the corner in the next decade...but it could be next year.”