ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
After hearing from local constituents at a recent public hearing and reviewing state statutes, Seward County commissioners are taking a cautionary approach and will pass a Revenue Neutral budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
That from Administrator April Warden, who issued a press release Wednesday afternoon stating the commission chose to go that direction, and she said the action came after commissioners failed to pass resolutions to exceed the Revenue Neutral Rate following the Sept. 3 public hearing.
Before this, Warden emphasized the budget conveys the organizational direction, priorities and commitments of community resources.
“We have to evaluate our current services, recognize the needs citizens are identifying and balance those needs against the tax and revenue burden required to finance them,” she said. “The budget guides and plans what the Board of County Commissioners are being asked to accomplish, along with the human, capital and financial means to do so.”
Warden said with changing circumstances, there can be a shift in priorities, changes in the financial environment and unforeseen events.
“Each year, budget preparations always bring with it new challenges,” she said. “Cooperative behavior and respect for one another help us face those challenges and move forward.”
The commission hosted its RNR hearing Sept. 3, and the motion to approve the resolutions for both the county and the Rural Fire District to exceed the RNR hearing failed to pass for a lack of a second.
Warden said after reviewing K.S.A. 79-2988, it was discovered the commission is required to exceed the RNR on the same day as the commencement of the public hearing after hearing from interested taxpayers and by taking a roll call vote.
“This is required prior to the adoption of a proposed budget,” she said. “The statute provides that ‘nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit additional public hearings that provide additional opportunity to present testimony or public comment prior to the public hearing required in this section.’”
Warden said there are arguments on both sides of the issue, but because commissioners did not pass the resolutions to exceed the RNR, they are taking a cautionary approach to this and will be passing a Revenue Neutral budget.
The public hearing for the proposed budget is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, in the commission chambers in the Seward County Administration Building at 515 N. Washington Ave. in Liberal.
