Lyon County commissioners voted 3-0 on Thursday for a final 2008 budget totaling $12,47,295 in levied property taxes, a slight drop from the published amount of $12,108,749.
The budget calls for a mill levy of about 51.83 mills, roughly 1.3 mills higher than 2007’s mill levy, and well below an earlier projected mill levy increase of more than 3 mills.
Still, the decision didn’t come easily. Ty Wheeler of Kansas Legal Services asked commissioners to reconsider their decision to cut $3,000 from the organization’s appropriation.
Wheeler said the money was needed for a federal grant match under the Violence Against Women Act, which requires a 25 percent local match.
“With the reduction in funds, we won’t have a local match in Lyon County,” he said.
Wheeler said the cut in funds will force him to say no to more people such as women seeking protection from abuse orders, viewed as a critical first line of defense for someone trying to keep safe from an abusive partner.
“This reduction of funds will cause me to say ‘no’ more often than I’d like,” he said.
Despite Wheeler’s plea, the appropriation remained unchanged.
After a one-minute public hearing, commissioners turned their attention to the budgets for law enforcement and the county jail. After going back and forth for several minutes, Commissioner Bob Davis said one thing that continues to stand out in the public as a priority is police and fire protection and ambulance service.
The final jail budget is $2,118,674 and law enforcement is $2,184,516.
“For the median and public knowledge, the fire, ambulance and law enforcement (budgets) have been held to the fire pretty tight,” Davis said.
After the final numbers were ironed out, Davis made the motion to approve the 2008 budget and Commissioner Scott Briggs seconded the motion. It was unanimously passed.
create (anonymous) says...
I'd like to see an explanation by each individual commissioner as to why they thought it was okay to cut $3000 from the KS Legal Services budget request, an action which resulted in the entire loss of federal grant monies. $3,000 doesn't seem like that much in view of what the cut represents -- loss of valuable services to the people who need it most. I know, I know, they had to make the pieces fit and something had to go. Let them explain that to the next gal or guy who is unable to afford to file for Protection From Abuse and must live in fear instead. Please, save your breath, you can't just move out. It doesn't work that way.
August 31, 2007 at 4:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
johnsie (anonymous) says...
Hand-outs, including government grants, have become a way of life for many. The taxpayer is asked to give at his work place, to give at the front door of his home, to give over the telephone, and now he's expected to want his tax dollar to be given via the county and city budgets. I say it's time to change this "way of life".
August 31, 2007 at 4:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
westaber (anonymous) says...
I think if you quit giving money to the illegal's and the refugee's the city would have plenty of money. Some of us people pay for this all our life and can't draw a dime of this . If the illegal's and the refugee's pay their share we would'nt have a budget problem.
August 31, 2007 at 7 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )