After another hour-long public hearing, the Lyon County Commission voted 2-1 to approve a resolution allowing Lyon County Extension and Research to join the Frontier Extension District, combining the offices, agents and resources of Lyon County Extension with those of Franklin and Osage counties. Commissioners Teresa Walters and Rollie Martin voted to approve the resolution, while Commissioner Scott Briggs was the sole dissenter.
The decision comes after the motion to approve the resolution was tabled at a meeting two weeks ago. After that public hearing, Martin moved to approve the resolution and Walters seconded. Before Briggs could cast his vote, County Attorney Marc Goodman called a sudden executive session, after which the motion was tabled for two weeks to give commissioners time to read the operational agreement between Lyon County Extension and the Frontier District.
“We have not seen the agreement between the Frontier Extension District and Lyon County Extension,” Martin said prior to tabling the motion. “In order to be thorough and transparent, we advise the board of Lyon County Extension and the Frontier Board to put together their operational agreement so that could be reviewed by commission and counsel.”
Now that the resolution has been approved, it will be published twice. The date of its second publication will set off a 60-day protest period for those who oppose the decision to circulate a petition that would force the question onto a ballot. (For more information on the petition process, please see below.)
The Frontier District is the 11th of 14 districts that have formed in the state since 1991, when county extension agencies were given the authority to combine and share resources. By combining with the Frontier District, Lyon County’s four extension agents will work with the five agents of the district. Four representatives from Lyon County would be elected by voters to represent the county in the district.
Thursday’s vote came after a well-attended public hearing during which several people voiced their opinions on the move. A point of contention with members of the public is that the move gives the Frontier District taxing authority within the county, and taxpayers would initially see an increase in taxes. Supporters of the district contend that the benefits of joining the district would outweigh the costs. Other questions were asked, but the primary concern is the taxing authority. With the difference in valuations among Lyon, Osage and Franklin counties, Lyon County would see an approximate $23,000 rise. Lyon County’s current valuation is $228 million, while Franklin County’s is $207 million, according to information from County Clerk Tammy Vopat. Osage County Clerk Rhonda Beets said that county’s valuation is $123,759.
“I’m here to talk about the tax levy for the changes,” Ken Bazil said during Thursday’s public hearing. “I have questions that I think need to be answered. Who will be in charge? Where will the main offices be? Will the jobs be the same? If there are new jobs or new services provided I think we need to know what those are going to be.”
Bazil went on to ask if consolidating the agencies would cost jobs, and asked commissioners to continue to study the issue.
“Will there be a committee formed to study this whole process to see if it is a reasonable and good thing for the people?” Bazil asked. “I think this shouldn’t be decided right away. I think it should go until we have the first primary. There’s no need to hurry right into this.”
Bazil said of the people he talked to, he hadn’t heard of anyone in support of the district.
Phil Dillon echoed Bazil’s concern about taxation.
“I’m here more as a voice of reason, but also an emotional voice for part of this community,” Dillon said. “I honestly thought that this thing was dead some time ago, the last time this proposal was made, and I feel like I’m watching a sequel to ‘Halloween.’ ... I thought for sure we got rid of the villain in the last one but apparently not.”
The community’s trust is important for elected officials as they set budgets, said Dillon.
“I can only say that my well of trust is kind of low right now, what with rocks and sweetheart deals and things like that,” he said.
One problem with a lack of trust among community members is that people give up on the process, said Dillon.
“A lot of reasons people give up are because of decisions like this,” he said. “This would be a good place for the commissioners to stop and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute.’ ...There’s no reason for this.”
Lyon County Extension board member Brian Creager stepped forward to defend joining the district and to address some of the questions he’s encountered. He took issue with the notion that the district board, when given taxing authority, would decide to raise the mill levy that would affect the three counties, and that the decision is being rushed.
“I’m here to once again show my support for passing the resolution that would allow Lyon County Extension to join the Frontier Extension District,” Creager said. “I have had the pleasure of serving the past four years on the Lyon County Extension executive board. During my tenure we have taken our elected positions very seriously. ... There is a perceived view that these decisions are being rushed, and there has been an attempt to create fear of unlimited taxing authority.”
On these issues, Creager explained that the board has never made snap decisions on the management of the agency. Districting has been a topic of conversation for the extension board was invited in open meetings that date back to 2008. Public meetings were held on the topic in 2009, then again in May and June of this year
“The board explored numerous scenarios and contacted potential partners to district with,” he said. “In November, our board was invited by the board of the Frontier Extension District. Representatives of our board attended their December board meeting and a formal invitation was extended for us to consider joining that district. ... To me, if a topic has been discussed openly since 2008, a decision is not being rushed.”
Regarding the taxing authority, Creager explained that just because there is no cap on the mill levy of the taxing authority, there is no reason to believe board members would act unwisely. According to the history of extension districts in Kansas, mill levies have largely remained flat and in some cases have gone down.
“District extension boards are comprised of elected representatives of each county in that district,” he said. “One of the duties of these elected officials is to develop a budget that will set a mill levy that will sensibly fund the budget. All of the board members are taxpaying citizens, and they’re not going to tax themselves to death.”
Creager explained that before the budgets are finalized there is a public hearing where concerned citizens can express their concerns if they feel the district or any other taxing subdivision is out of control.
“If a person feels a board is not doing their duty with common sense and restraint, they can file to be included on ballot at the next general election to try and oust the board members that they feel aren’t listening to the concerned citizens of the county they represent.”
Eldon Parkman spoke next, expressing disbelief that the resolution almost passed without the commissioners having seen the agreement. He also expressed concern over the unlimited taxing authority.
“Unlimited, to me, the sky is no limit,” Parkman said. “You can do whatever you want regardless of who says what. As was said before, there’s a lot of people that are real hard up around here, and why should we spend money for this?”
Joseph Conroy also stepped up to speak out against the resolution, naming the tax issue as the primary reason for his disapproval.
“I know they’ve said that the unlimited taxing authority would not be abused, but I find that when people have unlimited funding, they spend it,” Conroy said. “... It seems that control over the budgeting process is not there, and whatever they want to spend it on is theirs and they just tell us what our taxes are going to be. I am opposed to that, and it seems that we’re losing control, and in this day and age I can’t believe that we’re talking about more taxes.”
Lyon County Extension agent Amy Jordan came forward with answers to some of the questions that had been asked. As to why there is no cap on the mill levy, she explained that the state Legislature removed the mill levy cap in the 1990s. According to the original statute passed in 1991, the levy was set at 2.5 mills, but in 1999, tax levy limitations were suspended.
“Not being able to put any caps in is because of this,” she said. “We certainly would be willing to do that. Our mill levy right now is 1.2, and we don’t see that changing drastically. History has shown other extension districts that have been in existence ... of those, the mill levies remained flat or declined. ... We don’t see that being an issue.”
Addressing the question of whether the extension would continue to receive an appropriation from the county, Jordan explained that Lyon County Extension would join the district on July 1, and would bring with it the balance of the previous year’s appropriation. Following that, a new budget would be set for the new district following a public hearing and taxes would be levied at the beginning of the next year.
When asked whether a county has the option to leave its district, she said that there are provisions in place according to the statute.
“To date, of the 39 counties currently involved in districts, there have not been any counties leave,” she said. “Nor any requests by county commissions, district boards, or K-State Research and Extension to consider allowing a county to leave a district. But the provisions are in place if that were to happen.”
Regarding any changes to services, Jordan said the goal of consolidation is to allow for more specialization among the district agents. The merger also would create efficiencies in programming and within the operations of the office.
“There will be greater efficiencies because of the district being formed,” she said. Referring to examples provided by Fran Richmond of the Frontier district, Jordan said those efficiencies include combining newsletters, maintaining financial accounts, maintaining websites and databases and combining programs, training and clubs.
Bobbie Agler then came forward to address his questions and to express misgivings about the idea of districting.
Agler’s main concern was the fact that, according to the operational agreement, the district’s home county would be in Franklin County, and that’s where the district’s budget would be filed.
“So it is my understanding that the budget will be put together by the new board and then sent through Franklin county?” Agler asked.
Martin explained that, as with the budgets of all mill levy districts, the district budget would be reviewed by the county clerk and the county controller, and if they see problems they would get advice from the commission.
“So the elected members of Lyon County will be the sole contact that the residents of Lyon County will have contact with, and you as county commissioners will no longer have any control, including any say about the mill levy. Is that correct?” Agler asked.
“There has to be a public hearing,” Vopat said. “Before anything gets approved.”
“Is there going to be one public hearing, or three public hearings?” Agler asked. “Will there be a public hearing in this room on that budget, or will people have to go to Franklin County to see what the status on the budget is?”
“My perception is that by Franklin County being declared as the home county, they will be the ones to sign off on the budget,” Briggs said.
“From what I see, Franklin County is the presiding county, so that’s where everything is going to happen,” Agler said. “... One of my concerns is that this is the only proposal I’ve ever seen that puts any other governing body on the same level with you as a county commission to assess a tax on the entire county. ... As a taxpayer, I’m comfortable with the county commission doing it because I can come down and stare you in the face and get answers or talk to you on the phone or whatever, because you are elected officials.”
All three commissioners gave their thoughts before voting on the resolution.
“I’d say we’re very lucky to have the extension we do have within the county,” Briggs said. “I think the board members plus the agents and all the things they do are tremendous for our local community. But that’s not what’s in question. I think we agree to that fact. The problem that I have is the fact that the very people that have voted me into office ... I’m talking about the people that I see on the street, that I meet on a gravel road, they’re all very supportive of extension. but they’re scared to death of the taxing. That’s the part that I struggle with. I go back to the extension meeting we had in Reading at the Miracle cafe, and I point-blank told two people that I would support whatever they think I need to support, and somebody’s going to be disappointed — the people that voted me in, or the extension. ... You elected us to do the job, and we will do the job.”
Walters said she had been up since 3 a.m. thinking about the issue.
“I’ve been told the idea of this district was a surprise, but as was noted earlier this process has been going on for quite some time, since it was first proposed that we join with Chase County in 2008,” she said. “... The extension workers and staff live, work and pay taxes in our county. Their office, which is in a very visible location on Highway 50, is open five days a week. They have a listed phone number, they have e-mail accounts. My point being, ... if anyone is curious about what extension does, how it benefits our community and our county, and what the pros and cons about joining an extension district might be, the opportunity to get that information directly and from a reliable source is and has been available. ... Those taxpayers who have been appointed to oversee the budgets of (taxing entities) take their jobs seriously of being good stewards of those funds, and I don’t feel that the Frontier board would be any different.”
Martin addressed the Legislature’s removing the mill levy cap.
“When they removed the cap, they must have had a good reason,” he said. “I do not know the reason why they removed that cap. I think we need to separate the two issues. If we really have a problem with taxing authority set up by state statute, we need to talk to our legislators, we need to talk to our representatives, the governor and whoever, to get these caps back on. But we’re playing with what we have, and that fact is we don’t have a cap in place. ... I have sat in on most of the extension board meetings for three years to present my report and hear their business. ... To join the Frontier District was the least risk (of others that had been under discussion.) For now, I would like to start the process by approving this resolution.”
goodjoss (anonymous) says...
Dang it!
Journalism like this make me want to put away my pitchfork!
; )
January 7, 2012 at 1:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
"Regarding any changes to services, Jordan said the goal of consolidation is to allow for more specialization among the district agents. The merger also would create efficiencies in programming and within the operations of the office."
Why do small counties need more specialization among agents? Why aren't the agents trained to tackle all kinds of areas? I can see it if we were a huge county, but we're not.
Does one vet's practice tackle all problems or only small ones? Just an example.
Why isn't the local office already efficient? Why aren't programs already efficient.
I will say that during the time leading up to the fair, that office could use some efficiencies. Last year, the fair book had quite a number of errors. That's the fault of Harry Groh printing, I was told. Well, who does the proof reading?
To make a comparison, I am thinking of small schools, one where I taught for over 20 years. Teachers have to be incredibly efficient because in the small school setting where the population is small, not only are tax dollars very limited, but the same student results that are obtained in big 6A schools, are also required in small 1A ones. Also, in many cases, one teacher is required to teach a myriad of subject areas. Teachers must be highly qualified and programs must be super efficient.
Sorry, but efficiency is not a good reason. In fact, it's a very poor reason. If this extension office can't be efficient now, then something is dreadfully wrong and they are misusing human resources.
January 8, 2012 at 6:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Besides all that, the idea of an "unlimited taxing authority" scares the hell out of me. At a time when the economy is hanging in shreds, now is not the time to be taxing people more. But in the case of UNLIMITED taxing authority, there is NEVER a time. EVER.
EVER!
January 8, 2012 at 6:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
netloafer (anonymous) says...
Create
The idea of efficiencies to be gained is a smokescreen. Efficiencies would mean taking something big and consolidating it and making it smaller and leaner. This is just a way to take something small and make it bigger. It's a wonderful example of a silo mentality at work.
January 8, 2012 at 7:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Didn't the Rec Board recently get awarded the Goldie unlimited Tax Authority Pen?
"The taxes won't go up significantly", but you can be guaranteed that they will be going up every year.
Where's the petition to sign in protest of this, I'll sign it.
January 8, 2012 at 8:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
The idea of an " UNLIMITED TAXING AUTHORITY " should " scare the hell " out of everyone that pays taxes. Even the Commissioners that voted for such a proposal !!
And here is why,
Currently, Lyon County Extension receives $200,000 of taxpayer money, and if county commissioners approve this item, extension will need an additional $23,000 in taxpayer money.
What makes this situation unique is that there is no limit to how much taxes could be increased. Many entities receive tax money, but there are limits. For instance, the Newman Regional Health can receive up to 6 mills through the County Commission. Any amount above that would be subject to an election. In 2010, the USD #253 School Board approved Emporia Recreation Commission to increase it’s mill levy up to 4. If the Lyon County merger is approved, there will be no limit on the amount of tax payer money extension can receive.
The above was reported in the following article,
What does Unlimited Taxing Authority mean?
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
As I have said before -- to me -- " UNLIMITED TAXING AUTHORITY " most likely, would also mean " UNLIMITED SPENDING AUTHORITY " and I believe that there is more than enough of both being done by our elected leaders NOW and we -- taxpayers -- do not need any more/further increased or unlimited taxing or spending !
JMO ? Not really, it is a FACT !
January 8, 2012 at 8:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
UNLIMITED TAXING AUTHORITY
would also mean that,
The District will have taxing authority separate from any other taxing authority, and may issue an unlimited amount of bonds and levy an unlimited rate of tax in payment of such bonds.
And this should either make each and every hardworking taxpayer made as hell and motivate them to get up, get out , sign the petition to bring this proposal to a vote and then when it is brought up to vote on-- get up , get out and vote NO , on the question of Lyon County joining the Frontier Extension District and the UNLIMITED TAXING AUTHORITY !
Remember you don' t have to physically go to poll to vote. You may request an advanced ballot or an absentee ballot . But by all means VOTE ! It is your RIGHT -- at least for now and it is the way to start putting an end to the " Bully Boy " tactics/politics of OUR elected leaders and their puppet masters .
After all our elected leaders work for " US -- ALL OF " US /WE THE PEOPLE " !
January 8, 2012 at 9:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )