A public meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday will inform the public about the Lyon County Extension Office and Chase County Extension Office’s desire to form an extension district. The meeting will be at the Anderson Building on the Lyon County Fairgrounds.
The districts have been in Kansas since 1991, when the Legislature passed the extension district act. The formation of the district with Chase and Lyon counties was brought to Lyon County commissioners recently.
According to the K-State Research and Extension Web site, since the extension district act’s passage in 1991, any two or more counties can legally work together to form an extension district. According to the Web site, 23 counties have formed eight districts in Kansas from 1994 to 2008.
Brian Rees of the Lyon County K-State Research and Extension said forming a district will allow the pooling of resources and will provide stability for both counties involved. Rees said combining districts allows more in-depth programming for Chase and Lyon counties. Combining resources allows agents with specializations to be shared by both counties.
The formation of a district does give the district taxing authority as well, providing financial stability for the district. The mill levy the district could impose would be capped, Rees said. There is a 2.5-mill cap on any extension district, Rees said. Projections are that only half of that will be used, Rees added this morning.
SFIns (anonymous) says...
"Projections are that only half of that will be used" If anyone believes that I have some ocean front land in Chase county that you can buy. If you can afford the taxes!!!
September 1, 2009 at 9:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )