Opinion: Commission should focus more on needs, not wants

Linn County's current website provides a considerable amount of useable information. The county commission recently voted to spend about $40,000 to have a Manhattan, Kan.-based company develop a new webpage. (linnco.ks.com)

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

As the Linn County Board of Commissioners wrestles with the likelihood that for the first time since 2021 when the Kansas Legislature passed revenue-neutral legislation, it’s time to consider wants versus needs.

Revenue neutral rates are the most recent version of tax lid legislation that the Legislature first passed more than a half century ago. The idea seems to be that the state wants to limit tax increases made by cities, school districts and counties. And while the legislation doesn’t outright ban tax increases, it does require those taxing entities to publish a self-shaming notice that it can’t meet the tax lid, or in this case, revenue neutral.

It’s as if our Legislature believes that local government officials can’t resist raising taxes and has for decades been fond of the idea of setting tax caps for local governments. Of course, the Legislature never holds itself to that kind of accountability.

However, a city council member, a school board member or a county commissioner are all well aware how much tax increases are going to hurt their neighbors.

But the result of statutes like the revenue neutral rates is that local government officials who like to brand themselves as fiscal conservatives embrace the whole tax-cap schtick that is often obviously not doable.

For the past three years, the Linn County Commission has managed to draft budgets that fall within the revenue neutral rate. That means that the county won’t harvest any more taxes this year than it did the year before, and that number is set by the state.

However, the commission has had to dip into a pipeline windfall fund. It has used income from the newly built jail. It has dipped into a reserve fund. The use of the windfall money meant the cities, which mostly used the money for paving projects, had to dip into their own reserves for street resurfacing. The number of inmates from the U.S. Marshals’ Service and the Wyandotte Sheriff’s Office have been down considerably since 2023.

So the commission took a look at the salaries and payroll benefits of county employee as a source of money to reach the revenue neutral rate. As you can imagine, a mutiny almost occurred. The county has had a hard enough time hiring qualified people for key jobs because it has gained the reputation of having a negative work atmosphere.

Through a series of personnel blunders the commission has hired people who simply don’t understand their jobs, and the commission has not taken necessary steps to train those people. Sad to say, the commission meeting has become must-see live-streaming in offices of surrounding counties. Sadly, people in those offices actually know more about the workings of Linn County than the county’s residents.

Which brings us back to the budget and wants versus needs.

The county needs well trained and adequately compensated workers. Even the hint of something like choosing between forgoing a pay increase, decreasing the health insurance benefit or underfunding or eliminating the health savings fund couldn’t have shaken up the confidence of county employees any more than it did.

I’m fairly certain that employees didn't looked back at the recent decision to hire a company to upgrade the county’s website for about $40,000 and told themselves, “Yes, we need a prettier website more than we need a good health insurance plan.”

Or maybe they thought about the county’s recent consideration to hire a company to write and manage the county’s requests for proposals. That would be another $40,000 for work that previously has been done by county employees, many of whom have been fired or have found more stable and satisfying employment.

Now the focus seems to be on developing a new logo and new branding for the county. Commissioner Alison Hamilton, who has been the impetus behind the new website and the company to handle requests for proposals, apparently is not enamored with the maple leaf-and-sword logo that is now plastered on country trucks and equipment as well as the Justice Center and wants it changed.

Developing the logo won’t be the expensive part, it will be putting decals on vehicles and buildings.

All of these expenses are wants, not needs. The county’s IT department over the last couple of years did a revamping of the county’s website. Is it beautiful and engaging? No, but it is serviceable and provides information that residents and non-residents need.

What are we trying to sell? The county's "brand" has become "We're more concerned about image, not about creating jobs, not about making housing opportunities or looking forward to ameliorate the damage that will be caused when the La Cygne Generating Station starts shutting down generators within the next eight to 10 years."

Keeping a workforce happy and engaged is a need. The county is struggling to hire the people it needs to make sure services are available, and that is partly because of the reputation the county has fostered over the last few years. Simply put, qualified people don’t want to work for an employer that is at best unstable and toxic.

At the same time, the commission has gotten off track in replacing aging machinery. It may be a way to keep the budget lower for now, however inflation may be putting the cost of replacing equipment even further out of reach.

Former County Clerk David Lamb two years ago warned commissioners that strictly staying below the revenue neutral rate would be detrimental in the long run. We may be seeing that now as employees question their worth to the county - a dilemma of the commission’s own making.

To take away benefits would be turning their backs on the people who are already on payroll. The commission may have to grit its collective teeth this year and be forced to pass a budget that is not within the revenue neutral rate. But what it needs to do is not get caught up in unnecessary spending to enhance its image. An effective government makes investments in programs and projects that make things better for residents and businesses as well as increase tax income for the county.

Developing industrial tracts, attracting businesses with very real incentives, creating non-farm jobs, and stimulating home construction are examples of effective programs. Making more attractive websites, farming out work that should be able to be done by county employees, and worrying about logos and branding will provide the least return on the county's investment.