Elk County Commission Meeting - 1/14/13: TAXPAYERS WIN BIG

[Patriot]

Elk Taxpayers: 6 -  Big Government Liberal Spenders: 0

It's a new day in Elk County!  Events at today's County Commission meeting proved that there's life after liberal spending binges.  In addition to regular business, Commissioners Ritz and Hebb undertook efforts to save Elk County taxpayers some money & improve our quality of life.

First, on a motion made by Ritz and seconded by Hebb, the board allocated $250,000 of the recently received PILOT (wind farm) money to the road department for additional rock this year.  The additional funds will mostly go to materials needed to continue improvements to RS roads that were outlined in a road plan approved last year.

Second, again on motion of Ritz seconded by Hebb, the board decided to allocate all special parks & recreation (liquor tax) money it receives directly to the towns according to population.  Ritz said the towns were in a better position to spend those funds.  Especially since the county didn't own or maintain any parks or recreation facilities.

Next, since the special parks & rec moneys were one of the main reasons the county paid for a Youth Development Coordinator, Ritz & Heb voted to eliminate that position at the end of March.  Ritz estimated the move would save taxpayers about $24,000 a year in total taxpeyer costs, or a bit over 1 mill.

As if that wasn't enough, Mr. Ritz suggested tentatively allocating over $400,000 of the PILOT funds to budget appropriations for next year (2014) which would reduce tax levies by another 20 mills.  The motion was temporarily tabled pending some final figures that were needed from the county auditor.... expect this to be re-visited... soon.

But, not  to be stopped in putting taxpayers first, a suggestion to raise the mileage reimbursement rate for county employees from $0.51 to $0.55 per mile was defeated in a vote by Ritz & Hebb.

Last, but not least, on motion by Ritz and seconded by Hebb, the county Neighborhood Revitalization program was recinded.  Property tax rebates for people already approved (about 3) would be protected.  But no new applications or rebates will be accepted or approved.

With the exception of the rock money,Commissioner Liebau, Republican for District 3, voted against all of these cost cutting measures.

Commissioner Ritz also outlined specifics and requirements regarding Executive Sessions and the Kansas Open Meetings Act.  Good to see the Commission Leadership is finally trying to take its obligation to follow the law seriously.

Yes, Mr. & Mrs. Taxpayer, government CAN cut its spending and allocate money where it can best be used.   All it takes are real conservatives in a position to do so.  

Thank you Commissioner Hebb & Commissioner Ritz!

[hhjacobs]

Sounds like a move in the right direction.

[Janet Harrington]

Thanks for keeping us posted.

[sixdogsmom]

The people have spoken. Thanks Patriot for keeping us posted. And thanks to the commission for listening to the people! 

[the shadow]

One small step for voters, one giant leap for taxpayers! The years of abuse from former commissioners are over and other governments should take notice on how real governing bodies perform and act for the public, not to progress themselves and push forth their agendas on the back of the taxpayers as if they were somehow entitled and that the taxpayer is a beast of burden. It is my hope that I will never see the ugliness of the former county commissioners rear their serpent heads again. I can see how this may slow down certain family members' agendas in the Elk Konnected process.

Sincerely,

Kent Allard                                      The Shadow                          KNOWS!

[jarhead]

Patriot,
I bet there are some folks tonight banging their heads on the wall wondering what the hell went wrong.

[Varmit]

OUTSTANDING!!!  It's good to see our local govrnment FINALLY doing what is right!  I would like to know Liebeau's reasons for voting against the other measures?

[kshillbillys]

That's a very good question Varmit. Maybe perhaps in some sort of way he can hang onto a small piece of a dying organization. And if that don't satisfy the people in District 3, they could always do a vote recall and have a new election for District 3. Either way, he's useless and the only people that are harmed by that are Moline and Grenola.---Robert

[Ross]

I had to leave early again, durn it.
However, I did enjoy the smoothness of the first half of the meeting.
Thanks for filling us in Patriot.

[Patriot]

Patriot,
I bet there are some folks tonight banging their heads on the wall wondering what the hell went wrong.

jar,

The beautiful 'cup half full' reality is that the majority of us can now stop banging our head on the wall wondering when the hell is something gonna go right!

While we may hear some special interest driven liberals whine that the commission doesn't care about the kids, the truth is that they cared enough to return control over to the local communities... right where it belongs.  While we may hear that the commission is regressive, the truth is that they digressed back to a responsible sense of what the real, valid functions of government are.  While we may hear that they don't want to encourage economic growth, the truth is that more than tax rebates, lower taxes overall are far more attractive to those who might want to join our county community.  They ultimately seem to realize just whose money it is that they are playing roulette with.... and take their public trust seriously. 

So let the left bang their heads till the wall screams.  The rest of us needed a break.