Irn10072014a01 by Iola Register

Sports: Kauth signs with Bethel College

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THE IOLA REGISTER Tuesday, June 10, 2014

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Money matters plague cities

IOLA COUNCIL

HUMBOLDT COUNCIL

Council balks at increases Auditor recommends increase to fund EMS services taxes, utility charges for city By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register

Despite the warning the city is darn near close to violating state law, Iola city council members refused to ask Iola residents to pay a proposed additional $20 a month on their electric bills or to rob the city’s utility funds to keep the city/ county’s ambulance service afloat. The state’s cash basis law states a municipality may not spend more than it has either budgeted or in cash in a specific fund. “We can go maybe another month before we are in violation,” said City Clerk Roxanne Hutton

after Monday night’s council meeting. City Administrator Carl Slaugh put the two funding mechanisms before the council. In addition to the utility surcharge he suggested transferring $35,000 from each of the water and gas departments. Estimates are the EMS budget is $600,000 short. The utility surcharge on 3,727 customers would generate about $370,000, Slaugh said. But city officials balked. Instead, they want Allen County commissioners to fork over the more than $362,000 it has in its budget for a See IOLA | Page A3

By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register

HUMBOLDT — Neil Phillips had some stern words for city council members here Monday night. “Your (budget) fund balances are dangerously low,” said Phillips, with the Chanute auditing firm of Jarred, Gilmore & Phillips. To wit, the general fund, which supports most city operations, had all of $240 at the end of 2013. The gas fund had $6.18, the water fund $155 and the sewer fund $1,826. That didn’t mean the city was near bankruptcy, Phillips said, but it did mean with the city bound by Kansas’

IOLA COUNCIL

City council cool to library annex By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register

The time has come for the city to decide whether it wants to keep Iola Public Library’s Flewharty-Powell Annex or yield it to some other entity, library director Roger Carswell told Iola City Council members Monday night. As is, the house has critical needs for its upkeep, but no funds for repairs. Topping the list is a new roof on the western part of the house. To date, the library — at the expense of buying materials for its book and multi-media collections — has spent $17,541 on repairs to the house and an additional $18,520 in operating expenses, including insurance, utilities and general upkeep. “We are at the point we need to choose between the library or the house. We can’t afford to operate both. We have no more money to put into the

Jack Morrell listens as a proclamation is read declaring Tuesday as “Jack Morrell Day” in honor of his long teaching career in Iola. house,” Carswell said. The house was given to the library in 2009 as part of the will of Nancy Flewharty, longtime library patron. The house is directly in back of the library, on East Street, and is used for library programs and meetings. “The choice is whether to

allow the house to deteriorate or keep it up,” Carswell said, to which City Administrator Carl Slaugh replied, “A residential property does not convert well to a pubic building.” Council members were tepid in their support of keeping the Annex and asked Slaugh if he could find out whether it could be used for some other purpose. “I appreciate Mrs. Flewharty’s donation, but I can’t support moving forward with the added expenses,” Councilman Steve French said. IN WHAT could be a new revenue stream, or perhaps a trickle for city coffers is tacking on a 1 or 2 percent fee on utility bills paid by credit cards on an automatic withdrawal basis. The city, as is any enterprise, is charged a small percentage for the convenience of having customers use

Special ed in dire circumstances Bob Coleman, director of ANW Cooperative, painted a dire picture of the special education program’s finances to members of the Humboldt Board of Education Monday night. The state is supposed to fund 92 percent of the program, Coleman said, but the number has been dropping each year and is currently down to about 79 percent. “Each year it’s pretty much taken a nose dive,” he said. This has added to several already growing problems. First, there is an increase of

medically fragile students who need special care. There has also been an increase in children diagnosed with autism, or with emotional problems that also require specialized care. This ties into another issue that the budget is affecting: hiring and keeping employees. “It’s getting really difficult to recruit teachers,” Coleman said. Many states pay better, Coleman said, drawing teachers away. Recently, Coleman said, they had four openings and no applicants. They had to call colleges across the state and actively seek new gradu-

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ates in order to fill those slots. There are also medical needs to consider. Several districts have no nurses, although Humboldt does have one, Coleman said. Nurses are needed to dispense medication for medically fragile children, such as asthma medication, he said. But hiring specialists is also difficult because there is no way to compete with their salary. For example, if they want to hire a physical therapist, they can only offer a salary somewhere in the $50,000 per year range. This would mean a substantial pay cut, as many make $90,000 working See USD 258 | Page A6

See HUMBOLDT | Page A3

USD 257

USD 257 Superintendent of Schools Jack Koehn listens as his colleagues sing “Happy Birthday” to him before Monday night’s board meeting. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET

District to enforce food service policy By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register

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USD 258

By KAREN INGRAM The Iola Register

cash-basis law, Humboldt was swimming in perilous financial waters. “We have recommended that cities have balances of three to six months’ available at the end of the year,” Phillips said, but encouraged Humboldt leaders to have an immediate goal of one month’s balances, with so little to build on. Humboldt has been headed this way for some time, Phillips said. “It’s a trend we’ve noticed for the past four or five years,” Phillips said. “Now, with a change in management — (Monday was Cole Herder’s first day as city administrator) — it’s time to find a way to deal with it.”

Nothing in life is free. Starting next year USD 257 will enforce a food service policy that prohibits high school students to receive an alternative meal if they have a negative food account balance. Over the years delinquent food service accounts have added up. Students have continued to eat even though their food account has a negative balance.

Secretaries will now run a daily balance check of students’ accounts and notify parents when the balance is getting low. At the elementary and middle school level students will be given an alternative lunch when the balance reaches negative $25. A meal will not be served at the high school level when the balance is negative $25. A Free and Reduced Meal form will be sent home with the student See USD 257 | Page A6

Local dentist reports incident In Monday’s Register a police report connected Richard Potts with an incidence of child abuse. This could not be further from the truth. Dr. Potts reported the

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” — Mahatma Gandhi, leader of Indian nationalism 75 Cents

alleged incident to Iola Police Officers. The Register regrets the haste taken to report the news and inadvertent slander of Dr. Potts’ reputation.

Hi: 72 Lo: 55 Iola, KS