ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Seward County commissioners and staff have been receiving much criticism in the last two months following a 3-2 vote after the Sept. 15 public hearing to raise the county’s mill levy by double digits.
Much of that criticism has focused on Administrator April Warden, and she, along with the commission, attempted to answer some of the concerns of county residents at the commission’s Nov. 3 meeting.
The concerns were addressed during Warden’s administration comments and the commissioner’s comments near the end of the meeting.
First and foremost, Warden agreed with many, saying the county needs to have as much accurate information as possible, and that information needs to come without preconceptions of how courts and agencies defines it.
“I have been badgered for being your sole source of information in which the commissioners have made their decisions on,” she said.
Warden said information she shares with commissioners comes from multiple sources.
“I am hired under state statute and with my job description with the county to bring that information to you,” she said.
Warden listed many of the sources she receives information from, including the Board of Tax Appeals, the Kansas Department of Administration Office of Accounts and Reports, Hay Rice & Associates, the Kansas Association of Counties, the League of Kansas Municipalities, the Kansas County Administrators Association, Seward County Treasurer Mary Rose, County Clerk Stacia Long and Appraiser Angela Eichman.
“We rely on for information and their expertise in the different areas we’re working in,” Warden said. “I’ve spent numerous hours researching information and trying to get answers for the commissioners and the public, and I’m simply providing that information. I am not voting. I am not making the decisions. I am providing the information as I’ve been asked to from the sources I can get that information from. I’m doing my job as it’s defined by the state statute and by my county job descriptions. If that means becoming the scapegoat for saying you’re relying on me and my information for all of your decisions, then so be it. I’ve served the county for a long time, and I will continue to do so as long as I’m in the position. I wanted everyone to know that out in the county.”
Commissioner Tammy Sutherland-Abbott asked Warden about her experience with issues such as the ongoing mill levy problem.
“How many commissions have you served?” Sutherland-Abbott said. “Have you changed any of your processes of how you provide what you’ve always done as far as information to the commissioners? Nothing has changed in the last three years on how you do anything. Yet you’re receiving all this wrath all of a sudden. I appreciate all you do and provide for us and how you have a dedication to this county.”
Warden went on to thank local resident Carolyn Huddleston for the work she has done in helping spotlight what goes into the county’s budget.
“She has asked for a lot of information, but I will say Carolyn has been willing to come to the county,” she said. “She’s been willing to show the information she’s trying to gather and how she arrived at the information she’s got, and she takes the time to find out where our information comes from, what those processes are.”
Warden said this does not mean Huddleston agrees with county officials and what they are doing.
“She takes the time to do that and to come in and to learn those processes,” Warden said. “I appreciate her being willing to do that and to take the time and to actually come in to have those conversations.”
One of the things Warden said Huddleston had done was a thorough review of the positions county leaders said they had eliminated in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
“She went through every person by every department through the payroll records, and when ours didn’t match, she would say, ‘Can you give me a termination date? Can you give me a hire date? Can you give a transfer date?’” Warden said.
Many community members had criticized county leaders for what were found to be pay increases. Warden said raises were given, and some of those were in the county attorney’s office. Others came via sell back of paid time off and the hiring of new department heads.
Warden said this too was some of the information she reviewed with Huddleston.
“We were able to go through all of that information,” Warden said. “She understood where their information came from. She’s done the same thing recently going through the budgets. She’s come in to ask about the information.”
Warden said she also helped Huddleston understand the difference between the county’s general fund and its other funds, how commingling cannot be done within different budgets and how revenue expenditures in those funds need to be addressed.
Commissioner Presephoni Fuller also said she appreciated the time Huddleston has invested.
“That takes time,” Fuller said. “(Carolyn has been) very meticulous in what you do and the reports you give us. It is important you come and get the answers, the right answers, so you are clear on where your taxpayer dollars are being spent.”
In her comments, Fuller addressed a concern of some residents who said they do not see commissioners in the community.
“There was a comment that you don’t see us in the community,” she said. “That’s because you are not there. If you don’t see us, I need to see you. If you want to see us, let me see you. We are in the community.”
Commission Chair Scott Carr was the last to speak, and he had several concerns starting with the brunt of criticism Warden has taken since the FY 2026 budget was approved.
“It should be the five commissioners taking the brunt, and I as chair should take most of it,” Carr said.
Next, Carr talked about the role of the Hay Rice & Associates accounting firm in the county’s budget process.
“They are not our financial advisor,” he said. “They’re our auditors. They assist us with budget forms and options. They assist in the budget process, and they don’t have a plan. We make the decisions as a commission.”
Of course, a large part of the community discussion regarding the mill levy increase is the potential payback to Arkalon Energy due to a dispute over the valuation of the company’s ethanol plant in Seward County. Carr said of the 14.81 mill increase, 5.3 mills of that is for the payback.
“It was stated earlier we only put $500,000 back for 2026,” he said. “We put $1.5 million back for 2026. We had $1 million carryover from the previous two years, so we’ll have $2.5 million.”
As far as negotiations with Arkalon Energy go, Carr said those are now in the hands of attorneys with both the company and the county.
“We have negotiated with Arkalon as per public statement,” he said.
Carr then discussed the county’s budget process.
“We do budget by department,” he said. “We talked multiple times with departments individually. We’ll talk to department heads who come to the budget meeting, and some come back multiple times.”
Many local residents have said the county needs to hire a chief financial officer. Carr said differing opinions amongst commissioners are likely the reason a CFO has not been hired.
With regards to raises given, Carr said the county has filled and consolidated some positions when some employees left the workforce, and money was added for workers taking on multiple duties.
“It wasn’t so much a raise as it was taking on additional responsibilities,” he said. “With new hires, when they hire on, they have a probationary period.”
In the Seward County Attorney’s office, Carr said raises were given to keep the limited amount of attorneys available in place.
“They adjusted,” he said. “Their pay was in their budget. They’re an elected official, and we don’t have control of that. We control the budget, but he controls it after he’s given the budget.”
Questions had also been raised about Seward County Health Department Director Brie Greeson receiving tuition assistance, and Carr addressed those concerns in his comments as well.
“We as a commission had just went through that one or two meetings ago,” he said. “We did sign a contract with Brie with all the stipulations that is she left early, there would be pay back to the county. We took care of that in the commission.”
Carr said once the county has a medical review officer in place, Greeson can fulfill that duty if the current director leaves.
“That’s required by the state,” Carr said. “If not, we’ll have to see outside medical to do that service for us.”
Carr next talked about issues regarding the paid time off county employees get, and he said the county’s current PTO policy has been in place since 1997.
“It’s nothing new,” she said. “The max of 512 accrual hours has been in place since 1997, and we’re very comparable to other taxing entities.”
Research from community members, though, refuted Carr’s claim that the county was comparable to other entities, with the county giving more than double PTO in some cases compared to other entities.
Fuller said she feels county workers do not get as much PTO as has been reported.
“They don’t get 50 days off,” she said. “They get 36 days off, and you also count the federal holidays everybody else off.”
With talks with the wind farm company Invenergy ongoing, Carr said questions have arisen about potential payment in lieu of taxes agreements with the company and whether the company would be taxed by total megawatts or another method.
“That’s going to be through our attorney,” he said. “That’s who’s going to help guide us through that process. It’s not just the commission that’s doing it.”
Lastly, Carr talked about the increase made to the mill levy of the county’s Rural Fire District, namely the lack of attention the 30 percent hike to that levy has received.
“Nothing’s ever been said about that,” he said. “We always talk about Seward County taxes going up, but the Rural Fire went up too for rural residents. Not a word’s been said about that.”
