Last week, Lyon County Extension agents went before the Lyon County Commission seeking permission to join the Frontier District, consisting of extension offices from Franklin and Osage Counties.
Extension agents and board members spent Wednesday and Thursday talking about the benefits of joining the Frontier District and about the costs.
Our extension agents are an amazing resource and benefit the community greatly. From community outreach to education, they spend countless hours making our county a better place to live, work and play.
While merging makes practical sense, there is another part to this issue that makes a merger complicated.
If county commissioners approve the request - because of a state statue - it will also give Lyon County Extension the ability to have unlimited taxing authority.
Currently, Lyon County Extension has to go before the Lyon County Commission to request taxpayer funding; this provides a check and balance. Under the new proposal the extension district could levy any amount of taxes they want.
Extension agents have given their word that they are conservative and they would not raise taxes dramatically, which is good. They also note that other extension offices that have merged have not had dramatic increases.
Two years ago when this issue came up this topic raised questions in the community.
To give an entity unlimited taxing authority it should receive plenty of discussion considering the long-term implications. This decision will impact our community decades from now when the current extension agents and commissioners are not serving any more.
We are surprised at how fast Lyon County Commissioners are moving on this item. It was first discussed a little over a week ago and commissioners are set to vote on Thursday. This comes at a time when many taxpayers are focusing on their holiday plans and not on county government.
As we think through the issue, we question:
- Why make the decision so fast?
- If things don’t work out is there a way of canceling unlimited taxing authority for the extension district?
- If the community is unsure about giving taxing authority, have commissioners talked with state legislators about getting legislation passed to set some taxing limits?
- A merger will increase taxes by $20,000. Why is this, and should it not be less since there are supposed to be savings from consolidation?
Merging extension offices may make sense, but the county commission needs to allow more time to study the issue and allow public input considering the long-term financial impact this item could have on taxpayers.
Chris Walker
Editor & Publisher
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
good article Chris.
i would agree this seems to be rushed.
I also don't think that the extenson office is a much needed service today.
Back when it was first formed, yes, but like a lot of government programs that were started a long time ago, i think it's usefullness no longer needed.
but it's only a quarter million or so every year, guess it keeps the unemployment numbers down.
December 19, 2011 at 3:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )