The Lyon County Commission is officially in budget-planning mode following a study session on Wednesday morning.
During that session, commissioners received their first official allocation requests for the 2027 budget. The requests came from the Lyon County History Center, which is seeking a flat $120,000, unchanged from the past five years. History Center Director Emeritus Greg Jordan says they wanted to keep their request flat for two reasons: one out of respect to commissioners, given the state of the economy at this time, and two, because they have managed to operate efficiently with that amount covering incidentals, with other sources covering the remaining needs.
The second request came from Flint Hills Technical College for just over $371,500, up nearly $300,000 from the prior year. FHTC President Dr. Caron Daugherty says the college knows it is a “big ask,” but there is a specific reason for it: classroom renovations at the college’s new facility on Overlander Road, which will house its CDL and precision agriculture programs.
Daugherty stressed the county’s allocation, if granted, would only go towards the classroom renovations as mentioned, with the college covering the remainder of the costs of the better than $1 million facility project. Daugherty also mentioned that should the county not be able to allocate the requested funds, the college did present several alternative ways in which the county can support the project.
Commissioners will continue the budgeting process during their regular action meeting Thursday when they will field requests from Empower House Ministries, Crosswinds Counseling and Wellness and the Emporia Senior Center. The meeting will begin at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse Commission Chambers.
