ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Monday, Seward County commissioners heard from two constituents on the ongoing issue of a proposed 14-mill hike in the mill levy over the Revenue Neutral Rate for Fiscal Year 2026 and some concerns over roads.
The issues were addressed during the citizens comments portion of the meeting, and resident Cecil Milhon said Road and Bridge workers have been tearing up ditches along county roads.
“I don’t think you realize what damage you’re going to cause and what dirt’s going to be blowing, and you’re not going to stop it,” he said. “You’re uncovering grass that’s taken years to grow and cover the ditch. There’s nothing wrong with grading right beside the road, but pulling up the ditches like they did on Road 17, you’re opening a can of worms you can’t control. I’m asking you to look at that, reconsider it and stop it because it’s not good.”
Milhon compared that situation to the mill levy increase, saying the county needs to live with its means.
“Spend what money you’ve got,” he said. “Quit making us pay for mistakes the previous commission made.”
Lastly, Milhon addressed what he believed to be a bad use of county vehicles by employees.
“I’ve been told, but I don’t have any proof,” he said. “There are vehicles being drove back and forth to work by employees who should not be driving them. They’re not on 24-hour call. Why should taxpayers pay for that? They shouldn’t.”
Next, Liberal resident Carolyn Huddleston, who had spoken at several previous meetings, addressed comparing the cost of benefits between those for county employees and City of Liberal employees.
Huddleston said projected employee benefit costs for the county for FY 2026 are $6,619,453, but she broke down the numbers further.
“Notice this $6.6 million is what is left for the county to cover after redisbursement from a variety of sources,” she said. “Employee benefits really cost that $6.6 million plus another $1.9 million. The grand total is $8,519,453. However, there is one part of the reimbursement we need to subtract. That is what the employees are paying. I’m talking about the premiums charged for the insurance. They have $55 per month for an individual policy and $335 per month for a family policy.”
For the year, Huddleston said county employees would pay $517,8000 for benefits.
“They pay this, and Seward County and/or other funding sources pay the balance, which brings it down to about $8 million,” she said.
Huddleston then looked at the cost of insurance alone.
“The county budgeted $4,987,693 for paying claims and another $850,000 for a policy they have that puts a cap on how much they have to pay plus a fee for Blue Cross and Blue Shield to process the claims,” she said. “Together, those costs add up to $5,837,693, but we need to subtract what the employees pay, which is that $517,800. This brings the insurance costs down slightly to $5,319,893. To compare Seward County to the City of Liberal, I had to get the city’s line by line budget where each department lists their employee benefits costs and add it all up.”
For employee benefits other than insurance, Huddleston said the city has budgeted close to $1 million more for FY 2026 than the county. She said the city does have 10 percent more full-time employees than the county, but is paying 33 percent more.
Huddleston said much of this can be attributed to benefits such as the Kansas Police and Fireman retirement system, a higher rate paid for law enforcement and firefighters and the city having more employees in those departments.
“The rest of the answer isn’t clear,” she said.
Huddleston later looked at employee benefit costs for the county and city for FY 2026.
“The total Seward County expects to pay in 2026 for medical insurance is $5,319,893, while for the City of Liberal, it’s $3,856,000,” she said. “Thus the city’s projected cost is about $1.5 million less, and yet, they have 10 percent more employees. When we check out the cost of insurance per employee, in the county, it’s $24,976, so about $25,000 per person, while at the city, it’s $16,479. That makes the cost of insurance 51.5 percent more for the county because of the higher cost for the city of those benefits other than insurance. The gap closes a bit when we look at the total cost for benefits per person. It’s $37,566 per person for the county and $31,672 per person for the city. This makes the cost 18.6 percent more per person for the county.”
Huddleston lastly discussed the differences in the cost of all benefits for both entities in FY 2025 and FY 2026.
“The cost of insurance increased 24.5 percent for the county and 7 percent for city, while benefits other than insurance increased 9 percent for the county and 3.9 percent for the city,” she said. “The total cost for benefits increased 21.4 percent for the county and 6.6 percent for the city.”
