More than 50 people got their first chance Tuesday night to ask questions about a proposed Flint Hills Extension District, which would combine services for Lyon and Chase counties.
The formation of a district would allow the two counties to pool resources and have more agent specialization along with giving the newly formed district taxing authority in the respective counties. Taxing authority would shore up finances for the district and shift the burden away from county commissions to fund the extension program.
During introductory comments, Dale Fjell of the Northeast Area K-State Research and Extension said the concept of districting is not new. The Kansas Legislature passed the extension district act in 1991 allowing two or more counties to join together to form an extension district. The first district, Post Rock District, was formed in Kansas in 1994, when Lincoln and Mitchell counties joined together. As of July 1 of this year, there were nine districts in Kansas with the most recent district, Decatur and Norton Counties, forming Twin Creeks Extension District.
Fjell said in the early 2000s, interest in districting picked up and it has been steady since then.
“We’re having a lot of activity,” Fjell said. “... Things are happening across the state.”
Fjell said the concept of districting is not K-State telling counties to district. K-State is a facilitator in the process, he said.
To establish a district, several things must happen. Two or more extension councils may establish a district by first entering into an operational district. Each county commission and extension council as well as the director of K-State Research and Extension must approve the agreement. According to a pamphlet provided at Tuesday’s meeting, each county commission must adopt a resolution stating their intent to approve the agreement to form an extension district. The resolution must be published in the official county newspaper.
The issue will only go to public vote if, within 60 days, a petition opposing the formation of a district is signed by at least 5 percent of the qualified electors and filed with the county election office. The issue would then go to vote at a primary, general or special election. The agreement also must be approved by the state attorney general and the district becomes operational on July 1 after approval by the attorney general.
If the district concept passes in Lyon and Chase counties, the soonest the district would become a corporate entity would be July 1, 2010. Being a corporate body, the district would have the same powers as other corporate bodies in the county including taxation. It would be able to set a mill levy to fund the district, similar to the process a school board or board of county commissioners goes through.
The district’s budget, like other corporate bodies, would have to be published for the public to review and a public hearing would have to be held. From July 1 to Dec. 31 of the first year of operation, the newly formed extension district would operate on existing budgets for that year and existing appropriations. After that it would have its own budget set by the district’s board.
The governing body of an extension district would include four board members from each county, Fjell said. Board positions are uncompensated and voluntary. No matter what the size of each county, there will be equal representation.
The first board members from each county are appointed by the county commissions in each county. After the initial formation of the board, the members are elected by the public during an election similar to a school board or county commission.
Brian Creager of the Lyon County Extension Council said Lyon and Chase counties are in favor of proceeding with the process of forming a district. Lyon County taxpayers would pay about $20,000 total more in taxes, which averages out to approximately 57 cents per person, Creager said. According to Kansas extension district mill levy history, levies in other counties range from 1.343 in the Phillips-Rooks District to 2.981 in the Rolling Prairie District.
Because of incorrect information being provided to the Gazette, the concept of a mill levy cap was reported incorrectly. There is no cap on the mill levy that can be set, Fjell said. The original statute placed a 2.5-mill cap, however, 1999 legislation froze that cap. The highest mill levy in Kansas for an extension district is 2.981. The projection for the Lyon-Chase extension district is 1.1 mills.
“2.5 is a long way from 1.1,” Fjell said.
Fjell said the extension districts are good stewards of the taxpayer’s money and the money is used to expand programming and enrich counties.
Several concerns were raised by audience members during Tuesday’s meeting.
Each county in the district would maintain their own office and staff, Creager said, after questioned about the issue. Although each county would have its own office, they would support each other as well, expanding services and allowing for agent specialization.
Each county also would maintain its own county fair and its own 4-H program — another concern raised during the meeting.
Another concern raised was where each extension council would be housed if they combined into one district. Creager said the extension offices would likely stay in the same places as now. After being asked, Creager said that Lyon County is not planning to build a new extension building at this time, however, the extension district would have the authority to do so if desired.