County speeds payment on bonds
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Originally published 01:54 p.m., July 10, 2008
Updated 01:54 p.m., July 10, 2008
A rise in monthly sales tax distributions will allow Lyon County to pay additional money down on bonds that financed the county’s courthouse.
Comptroller Dan Slater announced Wednesday during a county commission study session that he would notify the bond company by Tuesday that the county would pay $750,000 extra on its payment coming due.
“The faster we can pay it off the better,” Slater said. “The sales tax numbers are excellent. … We keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
So far, however, sales tax collections have remained healthy, without the drop anticipated after the Tyson closing announcement on Jan. 25.
Tom Thomas of Agler & Gaeddert accounting firm said after the meeting that the decision to pay additional money was a good one. The county is paying 5 percent interest on the bonds, while earning only 2 percent interest on the excess funds.
Thomas presented the county’s 2007 audit report on Wednesday.
“I think this will give you a good snapshot on how the cash balances were handled from beginning to end of the year,” Thomas said. “… I think we have a good audit. Really, overall, the cash has gone up and we’ve paid the bonds off early.”
Thomas had concerns about the way payments were being received by a number of departments. He said that procedures have been written and documented for handling payments.
“We also observed that they’re not being followed,” Thomas said, adding that employees in offices that receive money have not been trained in procedures. “It’s not an argument. It’s just a fact of life. … It’s nothing to compare to the school district, where all the teachers start collecting lunch money.”
Thomas said that auditors also would like to have exact figures used in the fair board’s section of the budget. Expenditures are approved by the commission, and Thomas recommended taking the approval a step further.
“We’re also asking for some member of the board to sign off on them to show that they are approved,” Thomas said.
Commissioners and Slater briefly discussed the budget and the effect of the proposed one-cent sales tax that will be voted on in July. If sales tax collections remain near the current level, Slater said, a 12-mil reduction in property taxes could be possible. Since the tax collections cannot be predicted, however, Slater said perhaps a 6-mil reduction would be a better estimate. That would equate to slightly more than $1.5 million savings per year in property taxes.
“Anything over that amount would, of course, go into multi-year capital outlay,” he said. “If that money doesn’t show up, then obviously we’ve got a major problem keeping the county running.”
Bob Davis said that the county has hauled between 250 and 255 loads of dirt from the Hill’s Pet Nutrition construction side. He said he had talked with contractor Steve Coffman, who said the county could have some of the free dirt.
“He (Coffman) also stated he would not haul it for us, even though the contractor is paying him to haul it,” Davis said.
Davis made arrangements for the county to haul the dirt from the site for county use.
County Appraiser Gary Post told commissioners that property at 2501 W. 18th Ave. would be looked at again by his office. The property had been sold in September with a closing date of Jan. 2.
The purchaser had assured Post that the property would be state-assessed, Post said, but Post has discovered that did not happen because the new owner was not the owner of record on Jan. 1, the deadline for state assessment.
“We will go back in and re-do that,” Post said of the county’s position on the property’s assessment. “It will become state-assessed next year.”
In the interim, the building, which sold for approximately $600,000, will return to Lyon County’s purview for valuation.
“We’re gonna (assess it) this year, I can tell you that,” Post said.
The commissioners transferred several items to the agenda for today’s action session, including:
• Contracting with a private company, Postal Presort, to produce, pre-sort, and mail tax bills and information from the office of Treasurer Dora Hartig and Appraiser Gary Post.
• Purchase of a Braille flag to place at the courthouse.
• Purchase of a used tractor from state surplus. The tractor, a 1998 New Holland, has approximately 4,000 hours of use and needs repairs that can be made at a reasonable price by a county shop employee.
• Payment of $500 from the County Attorney’s drug forfeiture fund to pay for renting the Jones Aquatic Center for a back-to-school gathering for Emporia High School students.
• Creation of an 8-foot-deep landscaping bed at the new Lyon County Extension offices.
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