The estimated total will be up, however, the mill levy will be down if the current projected budget holds steady for Lyon County.
During the county commission’s weekly action session Thursday morning, County Controller Dan Williams presented a draft of the fiscal year 2022 budget to the commission for review. According to the current draft, the overall budget comes out to $19.71 million which is a roughly $62,000 increase over the previous year’s levied amount of $19.65 million.
Williams says the current budget proposal will see the mill levy decrease by 1.57 mills, and with valuations up roughly $11 million over 2020, county residents will see little to no tax increase from the county in the coming year. He says that doesn’t mean taxes couldn’t go up over the next year, it simply means any major increases would not come from the county.
Williams says one item the county still needs to take action on is whether or not to exceed the revenue-neutral rate contained within Senate Bill 13. Williams says that due to the budget total increase from last year, the county has no choice but to do so.
He says exceeding the neutral rate is a course of action that seems to be universal amongst other city and county governments.
Thursday’s budget presentation was preceeded by the latest allocation request from Julie Govert Walter of the North Central Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging. The agency is requesting a total of $259,627, an increase over last year, with the majority of funds, over $220,424 to be exact, being put towards senior services within the county.
In other business, commissioners unanimously voted to rescind a motion from Jun. 17 for a contract with TCA to conduct a feasibility study for the county’s fiber-to-the-home project. The reason for the rescission of the contract was due to a conflict of interest according to Williams.
Commissioners will now consider a contract proposal for the same services with Moss Adams. Williams says the new contract with Moss Adams is still being finalized and should be ready for formal approval by the commission by next week.
The Lyon County Commission will reconvene for their regular action session next Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse.