With an additional $425,000 in its operating budget, the Emporia Recreation Commission can prepare for repairs and other large expenditures connected to the upkeep of the Lee Beran Recreation Center. That’s how much members of the commission hope to receive from an additional 2.5 mills in tax revenue.
The funds are necessary after the ERC signed an operating agreement with the city of Emporia while allows the recreation commission to lease the center and ball fields around town from the city, but requires the ERC to take over the maintenance of those properties.
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Emporia school board, Tom McEvoy, director of the Lee Beran Recreation Center, will ask the school district for spending authority of an additional 4 mills. Currently, the ERC has spending authority for 4 mills. Because the ERC was established by the school district, all requests to levy taxes must go through the elected school board.
The request, approved by the ERC board at a special meeting on Monday afternoon, will give the recreation board spending authority over a full 8 mills. But, McEvoy told the board members, he sees no reason to use the full 8 mills. Instead, he’d like to see the board use 6.5 mills — the original 4 mills plus an additional 2.5.
“We need to put money away right away,” McEvoy said. “This is an old building; things will come up.”
Over the next two years, McEvoy said, he’d like to build up $500,000 in a “repair and replacement” fund in the ERC budget.
His proposal, if the additional mill levy is approved by the school board on Wednesday night, is to budget 2.25 mills, or an estimated $382,500, in replacement and repairs. The additional $42,500 would go into the administration budget for miscellaneous expenses.
But the final decision will rest with the taxpayers.
Once the Emporia school board acts on the request, it must publish a legal notice of its resolution setting the ERC’s mill levy. That notice must be published twice in The Gazette. After that second publication, set for June 19, a 30-day window opens in which a protest petition could be filed by voters.
Barring a protest petition, the recreation commission anticipates having its fiscal year 2011-12 budget ready for public comment and final adoption on Aug. 2.